| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Fantastic Fables by Ambrose Bierce: club, threw out both Mother and Child.
The Wolf and the Ostrich
A WOLF, who in devouring a man had choked himself with a bunch of
keys, asked an ostrich to put her head down his throat and pull
them out, which she did.
"I suppose," said the Wolf, "you expect payment for that service."
"A kind act," replied the Ostrich, "is its own reward; I have eaten
the keys."
The Herdsman and the Lion
A HERDSMAN who had lost a bullock entreated the gods to bring him
the thief, and vowed he would sacrifice a goat to them. Just then
Fantastic Fables |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Essays of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson: is because all has failed in his celestial enterprise that you now
behold him rolling in the garbage. Hence the comparative success of
the teetotal pledge; because to a man who had nothing it sets at
least a negative aim in life. Somewhat as prisoners beguile their
days by taming a spider, the reformed drunkard makes an interest out
of abstaining from intoxicating drinks, and may live for that
negation. There is something, at least, NOT TO BE DONE each day; and
a cold triumph awaits him every evening.
We had one on board with us, whom I have already referred to under
the name Mackay, who seemed to me not only a good instance of this
failure in life of which we have been speaking, but a good type of
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: there appeared upon the glazed vacancy of his
eyes a diamond point of intelligence. "Oh," he
said, comprehending.
He returned to his comrades and threw him-
self upon the ground. He sprawled like a man
who had been thrashed. His flesh seemed strange-
ly on fire, and the sounds of the battle continued
in his ears. He groped blindly for his canteen.
The lieutenant was crowing. He seemed
drunk with fighting. He called out to the youth:
"By heavens, if I had ten thousand wild cats like
The Red Badge of Courage |
