| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: the point at which it was evident the skiff would touch the
bank of the slow-moving stream, which seemed jealous of each
fleeting instant which drew it nearer to the broad and muddy
Ugambi where it must for ever lose its identity in the larger
stream that would presently cast its waters into the great ocean.
Equally indolent were the motions of the Mosula youth as
he drew his skiff beneath an overhanging limb of a great tree
that leaned down to implant a farewell kiss upon the bosom
of the departing water, caressing with green fronds the soft
breast of its languorous love.
And, snake-like, amidst the concealing foliage lay the
The Beasts of Tarzan |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Menexenus by Plato: time, however, I am inclined to think that the speaker who is chosen will
not have much to say, for he has been called upon to speak at a moment's
notice, and he will be compelled almost to improvise.
SOCRATES: But why, my friend, should he not have plenty to say? Every
rhetorician has speeches ready made; nor is there any difficulty in
improvising that sort of stuff. Had the orator to praise Athenians among
Peloponnesians, or Peloponnesians among Athenians, he must be a good
rhetorician who could succeed and gain credit. But there is no difficulty
in a man's winning applause when he is contending for fame among the
persons whom he is praising.
MENEXENUS: Do you think not, Socrates?
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Crisis in Russia by Arthur Ransome: actually is, and to judge how sweeping may be the
changes in the social configuration of the country if that shortage
continues to increase. Here are the figures:
Workmen in Moscow in 1913............159,344
Workmen in Moscow in 1918 ...........157,282
Workmen in Moscow in 1919............105,210
That is to say, that one-third of the workmen of Moscow
ceased to live there, or ceased to be workmen, in the course
of a single year. A similar phenomenon is observable in
each one of the big industrial districts.
What has become of those workmen?
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