| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: of a sauce-pan fits the mouth by means of a projecting rim, with
this difference, that the rim is not attached to the saucepan,
whereas, in the Epeira's work, it is soldered to the bag or nest.
Well, at the time of the hatching, this disk becomes unstuck, lifts
and allows the new-born Spiders to pass through.
If the rim were movable and simply inserted, if, moreover, the
birth of all the family took place at the same time, we might think
that the door is forced open by the living wave of inmates, who
would set their backs to it with a common effort. We should find
an approximate image in the case of the saucepan, whose lid is
raised by the boiling of its contents. But the fabric of the cover
The Life of the Spider |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: same words, if spoken in French, were another matter altogether, and
one could use even blunter ones than the ones originally objected to.
So much for the ladies of N., provided that one confines one's
observations to the surface; yet hardly need it be said that, should
one penetrate deeper than that, a great deal more would come to light.
At the same time, it is never a very safe proceeding to peer deeply
into the hearts of ladies; wherefore, restricting ourselves to the
foregoing superficialities, let us proceed further on our way.
Hitherto the ladies had paid Chichikov no particular attention, though
giving him full credit for his gentlemanly and urbane demeanour; but
from the moment that there arose rumours of his being a millionaire
Dead Souls |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Some Reminiscences by Joseph Conrad: in their time. I seem to hear your polite murmur that "Surely
this might have been taken for granted." Well, no. It might not
have been. That august academical body the Marine Department of
the Board of Trade takes nothing for granted in the granting of
its learned degrees. By its regulations issued under the first
Merchant Shipping Act, the very word SOBER must be written, or a
whole sackful, a ton, a mountain of the most enthusiastic
appreciation will avail you nothing. The door of the examination
rooms shall remain closed to your tears and entreaties. The most
fanatical advocate of temperance could not be more pitilessly
fierce in his rectitude than the Marine Department of the Board
Some Reminiscences |
