| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Taras Bulba and Other Tales by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: motionless for some time before a portrait in a large and originally
magnificent frame, upon which, however, hardly a trace of gilding now
remained.
It represented an old man, with a thin, bronzed face and high
cheek-bones; the features seemingly depicted in a moment of convulsive
agitation. He wore a flowing Asiatic costume. Dusty and defaced as the
portrait was, Tchartkoff saw, when he had succeeded in removing the
dirt from the face, traces of the work of a great artist. The portrait
appeared to be unfinished, but the power of the handling was striking.
The eyes were the most remarkable picture of all: it seemed as though
the full power of the artist's brush had been lavished upon them. They
Taras Bulba and Other Tales |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: in open court, their punishment would be too severe if they served
their term of imprisonment at Melun or at Poissy. Ouvrard preferred to
be imprisoned at the Conciergerie rather than at Sainte-Pelagie. At
this moment of writing Lehon the notary and the Prince de Bergues are
serving their time there by an exercise of leniency which, though
arbitrary, is humane.
As a rule, suspected criminals, whether they are to be subjected to a
preliminary examination--to "go up," in the slang of the Courts--or to
appear before the magistrate of the lower Court, are transferred in
prison vans direct to the "mousetraps."
The "mousetraps," opposite the gate, consist of a certain number of
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett: you commencin' to wheeze a'ready."
This mild revenge seemed to afford great pleasure to both
giver and receiver. They laughed a little, and looked at each
other affectionately, and then at me. Mrs. Todd considerately
paused, and faced about to regard the wide sea view. I was glad to
stop, being more out of breath than either of my companions, and I
prolonged the halt by asking the names of the neighboring islands.
There was a fine breeze blowing, which we felt more there on the
high land than when we were running before it in the dory.
"Why, this ain't that kitten I saw when I was out last, the
one that I said didn't appear likely?" exclaimed Mrs. Todd as we
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