| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Marriage Contract by Honore de Balzac: "It is nothing else," replied Paul. "But see how late it is; I ought
to go."
"Why leave so soon to-night?" said Madame Evangelista, employing those
coaxing ways to which men are so sensitive.
Though all this passed on the best of terms, and according to the laws
of the most exquisite politeness, the effect of the discussion of
these contending interests had, nevertheless, cast between son and
mother-in-law a seed of distrust and enmity which was liable to sprout
under the first heat of anger, or the warmth of a feeling too harshly
bruised. In most families the settlement of "dots" and the deeds of
gift required by a marriage contract give rise to primitive emotions
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Island Nights' Entertainments by Robert Louis Stevenson: waiting.
"My wife has the bottle," said Keawe, "and, unless you help me to
recover it, there can be no more money and no more liquor to-
night."
"You do not mean to say you are serious about that bottle?" cried
the boatswain.
"There is the lamp," said Keawe. "Do I look as if I was jesting?"
"That is so," said the boatswain. "You look as serious as a
ghost."
"Well, then," said Keawe, "here are two centimes; you must go to my
wife in the house, and offer her these for the bottle, which (if I
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: a straight, wiry, active old man.
The little boy's education went on--French, swords-
manship and hatred of the English--the same thing
year after year with the addition of horsemanship after
he was ten years old. At this time the old man com-
menced teaching him to speak English, but with a
studied and very marked French accent. During all his
life now he could not remember of having spoken to
any living being other than his guardian, whom he had
been taught to address as father. Nor did the boy have
any name--he was just "my son."
The Outlaw of Torn |
