| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Heart of the West by O. Henry: finished his speech. A knife shone in his hand, and they heard the
ripping sound as it bit through the tough canvas. The outlaws crowded
around and began tearing open letters and packages, enlivening their
labours by swearing affably at the writers, who seemed to have
conspired to confute the prediction of Ben Moody. Not a dollar was
found in the Fredericksburg mail.
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself," said Hondo Bill to the mail-
carrier in solemn tones, "to be packing around such a lot of old,
trashy paper as this. What d'you mean by it, anyhow? Where do you
Dutchers keep your money at?"
The Ballinger mail sack opened like a cocoon under Hondo's knife. It
Heart of the West |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: Ronquerolles said all that can be said on such an occasion.
Monsieur Dorlange would not listen to anything which seemed a
submission on his part, and the next day he received a visit from
Monsieur de Ronquerolles and General Montriveau on behalf of the Duc
de Rhetore. Again an effort was made to induce Monsieur Dorlange to
give another turn to his words. But your friend would not depart from
this ultimatum:--
"Will Monsieur de Rhetore withdraw the words I felt bound to notice;
if so, I will withdraw mine."
"But that is impossible," they said to him. "Monsieur de Rhetore has
been personally insulted; you, on the contrary, have not been. Right
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Simple Soul by Gustave Flaubert: heap of clothes on the ground, rolled up her sleeves and grasped her
bat; and her loud pounding could be heard in the neighbouring gardens.
The meadows were empty, the breeze wrinkled the stream, at the bottom
of which were long grasses that looked like the hair of corpses
floating in the water. She restrained her sorrow and was very brave
until night; but, when she had gone to her own room, she gave way to
it, burying her face in the pillow and pressing her two fists against
her temples.
A long while afterward, she learned through Victor's captain, the
circumstances which surrounded his death. At the hospital they had
bled him too much, treating him for yellow fever. Four doctors held
A Simple Soul |
