| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Chouans by Honore de Balzac: At the point where the Promenade joins the fortifications is a tower
called the "Tour de Papegaut." Close to this square erection, against
the side of which the house now occupied by Mademoiselle de Verneuil
rested, is a wall, partly built by hands and partly formed of the
native rock where it offered a smooth surface. Here stands a gateway
leading to the faubourg of Saint-Sulpice and bearing the same name.
Above, on a breastwork of granite which commands the three valleys,
rise the battlements and feudal towers of the ancient castle of
Fougeres,--one of those enormous erections built by the Dukes of
Brittany, with lofty walls fifteen feet thick, protected on the east
by a pond from which flows the Nancon, the waters of which fill its
The Chouans |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Domestic Peace by Honore de Balzac: modestly placed herself; she is reaping all the homage the women
wished to deprive her of. Happy the man she chooses for her partner!"
She interrupted herself, fixing her eyes on Madame de Vaudremont with
one of those looks which plainly say, "We are talking of you."--Then
she added, "I imagine you would rather learn the stranger's name from
the lips of your handsome Countess than from mine."
There was such marked defiance in the Duchess' attitude that Madame de
Vaudremont rose, came up to her, and took the chair Martial placed for
her; then without noticing him she said, "I can guess, madame, that
you are talking of me; but I admit my want of perspicacity; I do not
know whether it is for good or evil."
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: "I come at the right moment for you, my sister," said Henri. "The law
will ask of you----"
"Nothing," replied the Marquise. "One person alone might ask for a
reckoning for the death of this girl. Cristemio is dead."
"And the mother," said Henri, pointing to the old woman. "Will you not
always be in her power?"
"She comes from a country where women are not beings, but things--
chattels, with which one does as one wills, which one buys, sells, and
slays; in short, which one uses for one's caprices as you, here, use a
piece of furniture. Besides, she has one passion which dominates all
the others, and which would have stifled her maternal love, even if
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
