| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death by Patrick Henry: temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost,
I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of
experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past.
And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct
of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with
which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House.
Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received?
Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves
to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our
petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Tramp Abroad by Mark Twain: of that lofty region, roped together, as was proper,
a young porter disengaged himself from the line and
started across an ice-bridge which spanned a crevice.
It broke under him with a crash, and he disappeared.
The others could not see how deep he had gone, so it might
be worthwhile to try and rescue him. A brave young guide
named Michel Payot volunteered.
Two ropes were made fast to his leather belt and he bore
the end of a third one in his hand to tie to the victim
in case he found him. He was lowered into the crevice,
he descended deeper and deeper between the clear blue
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: (6) Present-day Nagano Prefecture.
A DEAD SECRET
(1) On the present-day map, Tamba corresponds roughly to the central area
of Kyoto Prefecture and part of Hyogo Prefecture.
[1] The Hour of the Rat (Ne-no-Koku), according to the old Japanese method
of reckoning time, was the first hour. It corresponded to the time between
our midnight and two o'clock in the morning; for the ancient Japanese hours
were each equal to two modern hours.
[2] Kaimyo, the posthumous Buddhist name, or religious name, given to the
dead. Strictly speaking, the meaning of the work is sila-name. (See my
paper entitled, "The Literature of the Dead" in Exotics and
Kwaidan |
