| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: one of the five classes of State ceremonial, [66] and must
not be treated as an independent branch of study. Hence, the
words "I am unversed in" must be taken to mean that there are
things which even an inspired Teacher does not know. Those
who have to lead an army and devise stratagems, must learn
the art of war. But if one can command the services of a
good general like Sun Tzu, who was employed by Wu Tzu-hsu,
there is no need to learn it oneself. Hence the remark added
by Confucius: "If I fight, I conquer."
The men of the present day, however, willfully interpret
these words of Confucius in their narrowest sense, as though
The Art of War |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske: [62] "Levatemi dal viso i duri veli,
Si ch' io sfoghi il dolor che il cor m' impregna."
Ib. 112.
There is nothing in Mr. Cary's translation which can stand a
comparison with that. The eighteenth century could not translate
like that. For here at last we have a real reproduction of the
antique. In the Shakespearian ring of these lines we recognize
the authentic rendering of the tones of the only man since the
Christian era who could speak like Shakespeare.
In this way Mr. Longfellow's translation is, to an eminent
degree, realistic. It is a work conceived and executed in entire
The Unseen World and Other Essays |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from In a German Pension by Katherine Mansfield: face. "Filthy old beast! Ugh! And the smell of her--like stale cheese
and damp washing."
"Very well!" she answered shortly; "it's cash down or I leave to-morrow.
All right: don't shout."
It was extraordinary--always before this woman came near her she trembled
in her shoes--even the sound of those flat feet stumping up the stairs made
her feel sick, but once they were face to face she felt immensely calm and
indifferent, and could not understand why she even worried about money, nor
why she sneaked out of the house on tiptoe, not even daring to shut the
door after her in case the landlady should hear and shout something
terrible, nor why she spent nights pacing up and down her room--drawing up
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