| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay: fastened in the stem. When the craft was within a few feet of them,
and they were looking down at it in wonder from above, the man
removed this pole and covered the brightly shining tip with a cap.
The forward motion then ceased altogether, and the boat began to
drift hither and thither, but still it remained suspended in the air,
while the haze underneath persisted. Finally the broad side came
gently up against the pile of rocks on which they were standing. The
steersman jumped ashore and immediately clambered up to meet them.
Maskull offered him a hand, but he refused it disdainfully. He was a
young man, of middle height. He wore a close-fitting fur garment.
His limbs were quite ordinary, but his trunk was disproportionately
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: been opened to foreign trade. As the stores were small, and in
such close proximity to the various legations, the most of whose
supplies they furnished, they seem to have been too unimportant
to attract official attention, though they were destined to have
a mighty influence on the future of China. One of them was kept
by a Dane, who sold foreign toys, notions, dry-goods and
groceries such as might please the Chinese or be of use to the
scanty European population of the great capital. By chance some
of the eunuchs from the imperial palace, wandering about the city
in search of something to please little Tsai Tien, dropped into
this store on Legation Street and bought some of these foreign
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Distinguished Provincial at Paris by Honore de Balzac: dramas to be performed in real life, and far harder tasks than the
writing of a five-act play. The poor author lodged in a garret; you
can see the place from here. He drained his last resources to live
until the first representation; his wife pawned her clothes, they all
lived on dry bread. On the day of the final rehearsal, the household
owed fifty francs in the Quarter to the baker, the milkwoman, and the
porter. The author had only the strictly necessary clothes--a coat, a
shirt, trousers, a waistcoat, and a pair of boots. He felt sure of his
success; he kissed his wife. The end of their troubles was at hand.
'At last! There is nothing against us now,' cried he.--'Yes, there is
fire,' said his wife; 'look, the Odeon is on fire!'--The Odeon was on
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