| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from An Old Maid by Honore de Balzac: evening, for some of my faithful friends have no doubt heard of my
return and your arrival. Among them is the Chevalier de Valois, a
seigneur of the old court, a man of infinite wit and taste; then there
is Monsieur le Marquis d'Esgrignon and Mademoiselle Armande, his
sister" (she bit her tongue with vexation),--"a woman remarkable in
her way," she added. "She resolved to remain unmarried in order to
leave all her fortune to her brother and nephew."
"Ah!" exclaimed the viscount. "Yes, the d'Esgrignons,--I remember
them."
"Alencon is very gay," continued the old maid, now fairly launched.
"There's much amusement: the receiver-general gives balls; the prefect
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Mother by Owen Wister: their part.' I told her that this was the rule. 'But,' she urged, 'don't
you think that a man like Mr. Beverly might be able to get them to make
an exception if he explained the circumstances? Other people may be
satisfied with waiting for little crumbs in this way, but why should we?'
I soon made her understand how it was, however, and I explained many
other facts about investments and the stock market to her, as I learned
them. It was a great pleasure to do this. We came to talk about finance
even more than we talked of my writings; for during that Spring I
invested a good deal more rapidly than I wrote. The Petunias had taken
only one-twentieth of a million dollars; and though Mr. Beverly warned me
to rush hastily into nothing, and pointed out the good sense of
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Twilight Land by Howard Pyle: blood-red stone. Beyond these things there was nothing; the walls
were bare, the roof was bare, the floor was bare--all was bare
and naked stone.
"Well," said the wood-chopper, "as the old men have taken
everything else, I might as well take these things. The ring is
certainly worth something, and maybe I shall be able to sell the
casket for a trifle into the bargain." So he slipped the ring
upon his finger, and, taking up the casket, left the place. "I
command thee to be closed," said he, "in the name of the red
Aldebaran!" And thereupon the door closed, creaking and groaning.
After a little while he found his ass, saddled it and bridled it,
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