| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Muse of the Department by Honore de Balzac: by young men, for I am old before my time. I have no illusions left.
Can a man have any illusions in the trade I follow?"
By opening the game in this tone, Lousteau cut out all excursions in
the /Pays de Tendre/, where genuine passion beats the bush so long; he
went straight to the point and placed himself in a position to force
the offer of what women often make a man pray for, for years; witness
the hapless Public Prosecutor, to whom the greatest favor had
consisted in clasping Dinah's hand to his heart more tenderly than
usual as they walked, happy man!
And Madame de la Baudraye, to be true to her reputation as a Superior
Woman, tried to console the Manfred of the Press by prophesying such a
The Muse of the Department |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini: "Our service is the service of the Lord," cried Ferguson, returning from
the window in the embrasure of which he had been standing; "the Lord
cannot but destine it to prevail."
"Ye said so before," quoth Fletcher testily. "We need here men, money,
and weapons - not divinity."
"You are plainly infected with Mr. Wilding's disease," sneered Grey.
"Ford," cried the Duke, who saw Wilding's eyes flash fire; "you go too
fast. Mr. Wilding, you will not heed his lordship."
"I should not be likely to do so, Your Grace," answered Wilding, who
had resumed his seat.
"What shall that mean?" quoth Grey, leaping to his feet.
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: Federal army, directed by a sergeant who in civil life may
have been a deputy sheriff. At a short remove upon the same
temporary platform was an officer in the uniform of his rank,
armed. He was a captain. A sentinel at each end of the
bridge stood with his rifle in the position known as
"support," that is to say, vertical in front of the left
shoulder, the hammer resting on the forearm thrown straight
across the chest -- a formal and unnatural position,
enforcing an erect carriage of the body. It did not appear
to be the duty of these two men to know what was occurring at
the center of the bridge; they merely blockaded the two ends
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge |
