| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce: Presence.
"Thou bastard son of a three-legged hunchback without thumbs!"
roared the sovereign -- "why didst thou but lightly tap the neck
that it should have been thy pleasure to sever?"
"Lord of Cranes of Cherry Blooms," replied the executioner,
unmoved, "command him to blow his nose with his fingers."
Being commanded, Jijiji Ri laid hold of his nose and trumpeted
like an elephant, all expecting to see the severed head flung
violently from him. Nothing occurred: the performance prospered
peacefully to the close, without incident.
All eyes were now turned on the executioner, who had grown as
The Devil's Dictionary |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Secret Places of the Heart by H. G. Wells: could be very beautiful. They went to the parapet above the
river and stood there, leaning over it elbow to elbow and
smoking cigarettes. Miss Grammont was moved to declare the
Pulteney Bridge, with its noble arch, its effect of height
over the swirling river, and the cluster of houses above,
more beautiful than the Ponte Vecchio at Florence. Down below
was a man in waders with a fishing-rod going to and fro along
the foaming weir, and a couple of boys paddled a boat against
the rush of the water lower down the stream.
"Dear England!" said Miss Grammont, surveying this gracious
spectacle. "How full it is of homely and lovely and kindly
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: to be seated, rubbed her temples with lavender-water,
and hung over her with affectionate solicitude.
"My dear Catherine, you must not--you must not indeed--"
were Eleanor's first connected words. "I am quite well.
This kindness distracts me--I cannot bear it--I come
to you on such an errand!"
"Errand! To me!"
"How shall I tell you! Oh! How shall I tell you!"
A new idea now darted into Catherine's mind,
and turning as pale as her friend, she exclaimed,
"'Tis a messenger from Woodston!"
Northanger Abbey |
