| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad: him but somehow that was the impression. I had hardly time to
receive it when crash! . . . he was already at the other door. I
suppose he thought that his prey was escaping him. His swiftness
was amazing, almost inconceivable, more like the effect of a trick
or of a mechanism. The thump on the door was awful as if he had
not been able to stop himself in time. The shock seemed enough to
stun an elephant. It was really funny. And after the crash there
was a moment of silence as if he were recovering himself. The next
thing was a low grunt, and at once he picked up the thread of his
fixed idea.
"You will have to be my wife. I have no shame. You swore you
The Arrow of Gold |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: a mare that can carry a tall man of our master's weight,
with all your spring and sprightly action, does not need
to hold her head down because she does not carry the lady;
we horses must take things as they come, and always be contented and willing
so long as we are kindly used."
I had often wondered how it was that Sir Oliver had such a very short tail;
it really was only six or seven inches long, with a tassel of hair
hanging from it; and on one of our holidays in the orchard
I ventured to ask him by what accident it was that he had lost his tail.
"Accident!" he snorted with a fierce look, "it was no accident!
it was a cruel, shameful, cold-blooded act! When I was young
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Message by Honore de Balzac: movements graceful, her foot charming. An experienced man of
pleasure would not have given her more than thirty years, her
forehead was so girlish. She had all the most transient delicate
detail of youth in her face. In character she seemed to me to
resemble the Comtesse de Lignolles and the Marquise de B----, two
feminine types always fresh in the memory of any young man who
has read Louvet's romance.
In a moment I saw how things stood, and took a diplomatic course
that would have done credit to an old ambassador. For once, and
perhaps for the only time in my life, I used tact, and knew in
what the special skill of courtiers and men of the world
|
