| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Moby Dick by Herman Melville: to view his ship sailing through a midnight sea of milky
whiteness--as if from encircling headlands shoals of combed white
bears were swimming round him, then he feels a silent, superstitious
dread; the shrouded phantom of the whitened waters is horrible to him
as a real ghost; in vain the lead assures him he is still off
soundings; heart and helm they both go down; he never rests till blue
water is under him again. Yet where is the mariner who will tell
thee, "Sir, it was not so much the fear of striking hidden rocks, as
the fear of that hideous whiteness that so stirred me?"
Second: To the native Indian of Peru, the continual sight of the
snowhowdahed Andes conveys naught of dread, except, perhaps, in the
Moby Dick |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: She was alone, in a dazzling toilet scarcely authorized by the place
and her isolation; before her, mounted on a chair, trembled a tiny
lap-dog, which she stroked from time to time with her beautiful hands.
After convincing himself that he was not mistaken, la Peyrade was
about to dart upon that celestial vision, when he was forestalled by a
dandy of the most triumphant type. Without throwing aside his cigar,
without even touching his hat, this handsome young man began to
converse with the barrister's ideal; but when she saw la Peyrade
making towards her the siren must have felt afraid, for she rose
quickly, and taking the arm of the man who was talking to her, she
said aloud:--
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: tailor -- tailors having, like cats, nine lives, as you probably know. The
fellow was exceedingly grateful, for had he lost that ninth life it would
have been the end of him; so he begged permission to furnish me with the
stylish costume I now wear. It fits very nicely, does it not?" and the
Woggle-Bug stood up and turned himself around slowly, that all might examine
his person.
"He must have been a good tailor," said the Scarecrow, somewhat enviously.
"He was a good-hearted tailor, at any rate," observed Nick Chopper.
"But where were you going, when you met us?" Tip asked the Woggle-Bug.
"Nowhere in particular," was the reply, "although it is my intention soon to
visit the Emerald City and arrange to give a course of lectures to select
The Marvelous Land of Oz |
