| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Aspern Papers by Henry James: the impression it was capable of making on a stranger), and I
had felt it was really a case to risk something. Was her own
kindness in receiving me a sign that I was not wholly out in
my calculation? It would render me extremely happy to think so.
I could give her my word of honor that I was a most respectable,
inoffensive person and that as an inmate they would be barely
conscious of my existence. I would conform to any regulations,
any restrictions if they would only let me enjoy the garden.
Moreover I should be delighted to give her references, guarantees;
they would be of the very best, both in Venice and in England
as well as in America.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Essays of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson: all others, it is the coat that depicts the man. You may hand, reef,
and steer like an angel, but if you have a hole in your trousers, it
is like a millstone round your neck. The Devonian lost heart at so
many refusals. He had not the impudence to beg; although, as he
said, 'when I had money of my own, I always gave it.' It was only on
Saturday morning, after three whole days of starvation, that he asked
a scone from a milkwoman, who added of her own accord a glass of
milk. He had now made up his mind to stow away, not from any desire
to see America, but merely to obtain the comfort of a place in the
forecastle and a supply of familiar sea-fare. He lived by begging,
always from milkwomen, and always scones and milk, and was not once
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne: My heart beat fast.
At thirty-five minutes past ten, Captain Nemo quitted the helm,
and, turning to me, said:
"The Mediterranean!"
In less than twenty minutes, the Nautilus, carried along by the torrent,
had passed through the Isthmus of Suez.
CHAPTER VI
THE GRECIAN ARCHIPELAGO
The next day, the 12th of February, at the dawn of day,
the Nautilus rose to the surface. I hastened on to the platform.
Three miles to the south the dim outline of Pelusium was to be seen.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
