| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: cotton-mills are one of the sights of Tallahassee; Mr Thomas's
tobacco-mills are the pride of Richmond, Va.; in short, he's one
of my oldest friends, Mr Forsyth, and I lay his case before you
with emotion.'
The barrister looked at Mr Thomas and was agreeably prepossessed
by his open although nervous countenance, and the simplicity and
timidity of his manner. 'What a people are these Americans!' he
thought. 'Look at this nervous, weedy, simple little bird in a
lownecked shirt, and think of him wielding and directing
interests so extended and seemingly incongruous! 'But had we not
better,' he observed aloud, 'had we not perhaps better approach
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: Ashton. This melancholy ceremony was performed in the misty dawn
of an autumnal morning, with such moderate attendance and
ceremony as could not possibly be dispensed with. A very few of
the nearest relations attended her body to the same churchyard to
which she had so lately been led as a bride, with as little free
will, perhaps, as could be now testified by her lifeless and
passive remains. An aisle adjacent to the church had been fitted
up by Sir William Ashton as a family cemetery; and here, in a
coffin bearing neither name nor date, were consigned to dust the
remains of what was once lovely, beautiful, and innocent, though
exasperated to frenzy by a long tract of unremitting persecution.
The Bride of Lammermoor |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: arise on my route. Nothing, therefore, is lost. I have two days,
which I have already gained, to sacrifice. A steamer leaves Calcutta
for Hong Kong at noon, on the 25th. This is the 22nd, and we shall
reach Calcutta in time."
There was nothing to say to so confident a response.
It was but too true that the railway came to a termination at this point.
The papers were like some watches, which have a way of getting too fast,
and had been premature in their announcement of the completion of the line.
The greater part of the travellers were aware of this interruption, and,
leaving the train, they began to engage such vehicles as the village
could provide four-wheeled palkigharis, waggons drawn by zebus,
Around the World in 80 Days |
