| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: yet night, but July nights are short: soon after midnight, dawn
comes. "It cannot be too early to commence the task I have to
fulfil," thought I. I rose: I was dressed; for I had taken off
nothing but my shoes. I knew where to find in my drawers some
linen, a locket, a ring. In seeking these articles, I encountered
the beads of a pearl necklace Mr. Rochester had forced me to accept
a few days ago. I left that; it was not mine: it was the visionary
bride's who had melted in air. The other articles I made up in a
parcel; my purse, containing twenty shillings (it was all I had), I
put in my pocket: I tied on my straw bonnet, pinned my shawl, took
the parcel and my slippers, which I would not put on yet, and stole
Jane Eyre |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Sportsman by Xenophon: X
To cope with the wild boar the huntsman needs to have a variety of
dogs, Indian, Cretan, Locrian, and Laconian,[1] along with a stock of
nets, javelins, boar-spears, and foot-traps.
[1] For these breeds see Pollux, v. 37: for the Laconian, Pind. "Fr."
73; Soph. "Aj." 8; cf. Shakesp. "Mids. N. D." iv. 1. 119, 129
foll.
To begin with, the hounds must be no ordinary specimens of the species
named,[2] in order to do battle with the beast in question.
[2] Or, "these hounds of the breed named must not be any ordinary
specimens"; but what does Xenophon mean by {ek toutou tou genous}?
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from 'Twixt Land & Sea by Joseph Conrad: It was three o'clock by now and I had been on my feet since nine,
but I was not sleepy; I could not have gone to sleep. I sat there,
fagged out, looking at the curtains, trying to clear my mind of the
confused sensation of being in two places at once, and greatly
bothered by an exasperating knocking in my head. It was a relief
to discover suddenly that it was not in my head at all, but on the
outside of the door. Before I could collect myself the words "Come
in" were out of my mouth, and the steward entered with a tray,
bringing in my morning coffee. I had slept, after all, and I was
so frightened that I shouted, "This way! I am here, steward," as
though he had been miles away. He put down the tray on the table
'Twixt Land & Sea |
