| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Lady Baltimore by Owen Wister: none of them, unless it was by her complete silence. John's coming into
the boat we managed with sufficient dexterity; aided by the horrified
Charley, who now arrived personally in the other boat, and was for taking
all three of us into that. But this was altogether unnecessary; he was
made to understand that such transferences as it would occasion were
superfluous, and so one of his men stepped into our boat to help me to
row back against the current; and for this I was not unthankful.
Our return took, it appeared to me, a much longer time than everything
else which had happened. When I looked over my shoulder at the Hermana,
she seemed an incredible distance off, and when I looked again, she had
grown so very little nearer that I abandoned this fruitless proceeding.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Phaedo by Plato: cultivation; some more and some less developed, and all of them capable of
improvement under favourable circumstances. There are punishments too of
children when they are growing up inflicted by their parents, of elder
offenders which are imposed by the law of the land, of all men at all times
of life, which are attached by the laws of nature to the performance of
certain actions. All these punishments are really educational; that is to
say, they are not intended to retaliate on the offender, but to teach him a
lesson. Also there is an element of chance in them, which is another name
for our ignorance of the laws of nature. There is evil too inseparable
from good (compare Lysis); not always punished here, as good is not always
rewarded. It is capable of being indefinitely diminished; and as knowledge
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Dracula by Bram Stoker: He seemed to wake up all at once, and shook his head.
With a laugh he replied, "Not much! Flies are poor things,
after all!" After a pause he added, "But I don't want their
souls buzzing round me, all the same."
"Or spiders?" I went on.
"Blow spiders! What's the use of spiders? There isn't anything
in them to eat or. . ." He stopped suddenly as though reminded
of a forbidden topic.
"So, so!" I thought to myself, "this is the second time he has
suddenly stopped at the word `drink'. What does it mean?"
Renfield seemed himself aware of having made a lapse,
Dracula |
