| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Drama on the Seashore by Honore de Balzac: moment we were about fifty feet from the rocky eminence, which
extended a long reef into the sea. Our guide took a path which led him
round the base of the rock. We ourselves continued our way over it;
but Pauline took my arm. Our guide hastened his steps in order to meet
us on the other side, where the two paths came together again.
This circumstance excited our curiosity, which soon became so keen
that our hearts were beating as if with a sense of fear. In spite of
the heat of the day, and the fatigue caused by toiling through the
sand, our souls were still surrendered to the softness unspeakable of
our exquisite ecstasy. They were filled with that pure pleasure which
cannot be described unless we liken it to the joy of listening to
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare: 4. COUNTREYMAN
Why, then, have with ye, Boyes; Tis but a chiding.
Let the plough play to day, ile tick'lt out
Of the Iades tailes to morrow.
1. COUNTREYMAN
I am sure
To have my wife as jealous as a Turkey:
But that's all one; ile goe through, let her mumble.
2. COUNTREYMAN
Clap her aboard to morrow night, and stoa her,
And all's made up againe.
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Straight Deal by Owen Wister: say "car" when we spoke of the vehicle you get into when you board a
train, but called it a voiture, or something else quite "foreign," the
Englishman would not feel that we had taken a sort of liberty with his
mother-tongue. A deep point lies here: for most English the world is
divided into three peoples, English, foreigners, and Americans; and for
most of us likewise it is divided into Americans, foreigners, and Eng-
lish. Now a "foreigner" can call molasses whatever he pleases; we do not
feel that he has taken any liberty with our mother-tongue; his tongue has
a different mother; he can't help that; he's not to be criticized for
that. But we and the English speak a tongue that has the same mother.
This identity in pedigree has led and still leads to countless family
|
