| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: pendent over the peaceful backwaters, at some distance from the
too-impetuous current. It hangs from the drooping end of the
branch of a poplar, an old willow or an alder, all of them tall
trees, favouring the banks of streams.
It consists of a cotton bag, closed all round, save for a small
opening at the side, just sufficient to allow of the mother's
passage. In shape, it resembles the body of an alembic, a
chemist's retort with a short lateral neck, or, better still, the
foot of a stocking, with the edges brought together, but for a
little round hole left at one side. The outward appearances
increase the likeness: one can almost see the traces of a
The Life of the Spider |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: The unwholesome-looking little moral agent of destruction exulted
silently in the possession of personal prestige, keeping in check
this man armed with the defensive mandate of a menaced society.
More fortunate than Caligula, who wished that the Roman Senate had
only one head for the better satisfaction of his cruel lust, he
beheld in that one man all the forces he had set at defiance: the
force of law, property, oppression, and injustice. He beheld all
his enemies, and fearlessly confronted them all in a supreme
satisfaction of his vanity. They stood perplexed before him as if
before a dreadful portent. He gloated inwardly over the chance of
this meeting affirming his superiority over all the multitude of
The Secret Agent |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain: time I told it, they began to crack in places; the eight
time I told it, they began to crumble; at the twelfth
repetition they fell apart in chunks; and at the fifteenth
they disintegrated, and I got a broom and swept them
up. This language is figurative. Those islanders --
well, they are slow pay at first, in the matter of return
for your investment of effort, but in the end they make
the pay of all other nations poor and small by contrast.
I was at the well next day betimes. Merlin was
there, enchanting away like a beaver, but not raising
the moisture. He was not in a pleasant humor; and
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court |
