| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Red Inn by Honore de Balzac: observations, the worthy German had lined his nose with a good pinch
of snuff and was now beginning his tale. It would be difficult to
reproduce it in his own language, with his frequent interruptions and
wordy digressions. Therefore, I now write it down in my own way;
leaving out the faults of the Nuremburger, and taking only what his
tale may have had of interest and poesy with the coolness of writers
who forget to put on the title pages of their books: "Translated from
the German."
THOUGHT AND ACT
Toward the end of Venemiaire, year VII., a republican period which in
the present day corresponds to October 20, 1799, two young men,
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen: had been forced to confess themselves powerless to arrest or to
explain the sordid murders of Whitechapel; but before the
horrible suicides of Piccadilly and Mayfair they were
dumbfoundered, for not even the mere ferocity which did duty as
an explanation of the crimes of the East End, could be of
service in the West. Each of these men who had resolved to die
a tortured shameful death was rich, prosperous, and to all
appearances in love with the world, and not the acutest
research should ferret out any shadow of a lurking motive in
either case. There was a horror in the air, and men looked at
one another's faces when they met, each wondering whether the
The Great God Pan |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Time Machine by H. G. Wells: confidence. Here was the same beautiful scene, the same abundant
foliage, the same splendid palaces and magnificent ruins, the
same silver river running between its fertile banks. The gay
robes of the beautiful people moved hither and thither among the
trees. Some were bathing in exactly the place where I had saved
Weena, and that suddenly gave me a keen stab of pain. And like
blots upon the landscape rose the cupolas above the ways to the
Under-world. I understood now what all the beauty of the Over-
world people covered. Very pleasant was their day, as pleasant
as the day of the cattle in the field. Like the cattle, they
knew of no enemies and provided against no needs. And their end
The Time Machine |
