| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Under the Red Robe by Stanley Weyman: say again that from the first hour of his entrance he sickened at
the work which he had in hand, the work which ill-fortune had
laid upon him. Still he pursued it. He had given his word; and
if there was one tradition of his race which this man had never
broken, it was that of fidelity to his side--to the man who paid
him. But he pursued it with only half his mind, in great misery,
if you will believe me; sometimes in agonies of shame.
Gradually, however, almost against his will, the drama worked
itself out before him, until he needed only one thing.
I looked at Mademoiselle, trembling. But her head was averted:
I could gather nothing from the outlines of her form; and I went
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Message by Honore de Balzac: knows how many stages beyond Montargis, would have reaped a
harvest of flaming epithet, rapturous description, and very
tender confidences. Our bashful fears, our silent interjections,
our blushes, as we met each other's eyes, were expressive with an
eloquence, a boyish charm, which I have ceased to feel. One must
remain young, no doubt, to understand youth.
Well, we understood one another to admiration on all the
essential points of passion. We had laid it down as an axiom at
the very outset, that in theory and practice there was no such
piece of driveling nonsense in this world as a certificate of
birth; that plenty of women were younger at forty than many a
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: "Why do you torture me so? It's a sin
against hospitality!"
Alexandra Dmitrievna rose, and almost in
tears, being touched by her own pleading, said,
"She is so miserable, but she is such a dear."
He got up, and stood waiting for her to finish.
She held out her hand.
"Michael, you do wrong," said she, and left
him.
For a long while after she had gone Michael
Ivanovich walked to and fro on the square of
The Forged Coupon |
