| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Illustrious Gaudissart by Honore de Balzac: of his natural man. He is compelled to be an observer of a certain
sort in the interests of his trade. He must probe men with a glance
and guess their habits, wants, and above all their solvency. To
economize time he must come to quick decisions as to his chances of
success,--a practice that makes him more or less a man of judgment; on
the strength of which he sets up as a judge of theatres, and
discourses about those of Paris and the provinces.
He knows all the good and bad haunts in France, "de actu et visu." He
can pilot you, on occasion, to vice or virtue with equal assurance.
Blest with the eloquence of a hot-water spigot turned on at will, he
can check or let run, without floundering, the collection of phrases
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Lock and Key Library by Julian Hawthorne, Ed.: and this time they have made a clear house of it."
"God preserve us! Has a curse been pronounced upon this city?
What can be done? What are the magistrates going to do?"
"I don't know, sir. I have orders to run to the Black Friars,
where another meeting is gathering. Shall I say you will attend,
sir?"
"Yes--no--stop a little. No matter, you may go on; I'll follow
immediately."
I went instantly to Maximilian's room. He was lying asleep on a
sofa, at which I was not surprised, for there had been a severe
stag chase in the morning. Even at this moment I found myself
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Twilight Land by Howard Pyle: dogs no longer, but the tall, noble young men that the sorceress
queen had bewitched. There, as the old man had hoped, he found
his own three sons, and kissed them with the tears running down
his face.
But when the people of that land learned that their youngest
princess, and the one whom they loved, had come back again, and
that the two sorceresses would trouble them no longer, they
shouted and shouted for joy. All the town was hung with flags and
illuminated, the fountains ran with wine, and nothing was heard
but sounds of rejoicing. In the midst of it all the prince
married the princess, and so became the king of that country.
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