| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Little Britain by Washington Irving: different cast, which tends to throw the sunshine of good-
humor over the whole neighborhood. It meets once a week at
a little old-fashioned house, kept by a jolly publican of the
name of Wagstaff, and bearing for insignia a resplendent half-
moon, with a most seductive bunch of grapes. The old edifice
is covered with inscriptions to catch the eye of the thirsty
wayfarer, such as "Truman, Hanbury, and Co.'s Entire," "Wine,
Rum, and Brandy Vaults," "Old Tom, Rum and Compounds,
etc." This indeed has been a temple of Bacchus and Momus
from time immemorial. It ha always been in the family of the
Wagstaffs, so that its history is tolerably preserved by the
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith: fine eyes has totally overset my resolution. An impudent fellow may
counterfeit modesty; but I'll be hanged if a modest man can ever
counterfeit impudence.
HASTINGS. If you could but say half the fine things to them that I
have heard you lavish upon the bar-maid of an inn, or even a college
bed-maker----
MARLOW. Why, George, I can't say fine things to them; they freeze,
they petrify me. They may talk of a comet, or a burning mountain, or
some such bagatelle; but, to me, a modest woman, drest out in all her
finery, is the most tremendous object of the whole creation.
HASTINGS. Ha! ha! ha! At this rate, man, how can you ever expect to
She Stoops to Conquer |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson: amiss over his cups. Under the radiance of the kindly jar
partiality might even credit him with wit.'
It will be seen afterwards that this was more my business than I
thought it at the time. Indeed, I was impatient to be gone. Even
as my friend maundered ahead a squall burst, the jaws of the rain
were opened against the coffee-house windows, and at that inclement
signal I remembered I was due elsewhere.
CHAPTER XXVI - THE COTTAGE AT NIGHT
AT the door I was nearly blown back by the unbridled violence of
the squall, and Rowley and I must shout our parting words. All the
way along Princes Street (whither my way led) the wind hunted me
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