| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Enemies of Books by William Blades: while the great bibliographer, wiping his thumb on his coat sleeve,
passed on with the remark, "Oh, yes! they have black heads sometimes."
That was something to know--another fact for the entomologist;
for my little gentleman had a hard, shiny, white head,
and I never heard of a black-headed bookworm before or since.
Perhaps the great abundance of black-letter books in the Bodleian
may account for the variety. At any rate he was an Anobium.
I have been unmercifully "chaffed" for the absurd idea that a paper-eating
worm could be kept a prisoner in a paper box. Oh, these critics!
Your bookworm is a shy, lazy beast, and takes a day or two to recover
his appetite after being "evicted." Moreover, he knew his own dignity
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Oakdale Affair by Edgar Rice Burroughs: The sudden pressure of the knife point against the
breast of the Oskaloosa Kid awakened the youth with
a startling suddenness which brought him to his feet be-
fore a second vicious thrust reached him. For a time he
did not realize how close he had been to death or that
he had been saved by the chance location of the auto-
matic pistol in his breast pocket--the very pistol he had
taken from the dressing table of Abigail Prim's boudoir.
The commotion of the attack and escape brought the
other sleepers to heavy-eyed wakefulness. They saw
Dopey Charlie advancing upon the Kid, a knife in his
The Oakdale Affair |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac: "My father, bless me!" she entreated.
"Take care of it all. You will render me an account yonder!" he said,
proving by these last words that Christianity must always be the
religion of misers.
*****
Eugenie Grandet was now alone in the world in that gray house, with
none but Nanon to whom she could turn with the certainty of being
heard and understood,--Nanon the sole being who loved her for herself
and with whom she could speak of her sorrows. La Grande Nanon was a
providence for Eugenie. She was not a servant, but a humble friend.
After her father's death Eugenie learned from Maitre Cruchot that she
Eugenie Grandet |
