| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Damnation of Theron Ware by Harold Frederic: "I promise," he said gravely, and the two palms squeezed
themselves together in an earnest clasp.
"Right you are," exclaimed the lady, once more with
cheery vivacity. "Mind, when it's all over, I'm going
to give you a good, serious, downright talking to--
a regular hoeing-over. I'm not sure I shan't give
you a sound shaking into the bargain. You need it.
And now I'm going out to help Alice."
The Reverend Mr. Ware remained standing after his new friend
had left the room, and his meditative face wore an even
unusual air of abstraction. He strolled aimlessly over,
The Damnation of Theron Ware |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Whirligigs by O. Henry: Bob Tidball opened the sack, drew out double handfuls
of the neat packages of currency and the one sack of
gold and chuckled with the glee of a child.
"Say, you old double-decked pirate," he called joyfully
to Dodson, "you said we could do it -- you got a head for
financing that knocks the horns off of anything in Arizona."
"What are we going to do about a hoss for you, Bob?
We ain't got long to wait here. They'll be on our trail
before daylight in the mornin'."
"Oh, I guess that cayuse of yourn'll carry double for
a while," answered the sanguine Bob. "We'll annex
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Crito by Plato: travel as other men do. Nor had you any curiosity to know other states or
their laws: your affections did not go beyond us and our state; we were
your especial favourites, and you acquiesced in our government of you; and
here in this city you begat your children, which is a proof of your
satisfaction. Moreover, you might in the course of the trial, if you had
liked, have fixed the penalty at banishment; the state which refuses to let
you go now would have let you go then. But you pretended that you
preferred death to exile (compare Apol.), and that you were not unwilling
to die. And now you have forgotten these fine sentiments, and pay no
respect to us the laws, of whom you are the destroyer; and are doing what
only a miserable slave would do, running away and turning your back upon
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