| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Arizona Nights by Stewart Edward White: "Gi' me the cup, Sue."
A white-faced woman who looked mighty good to us alkalis opened
the flaps and gave out a tin cup, which the man pointed out to
fill.
"How many of you is they?" asks Texas Pete.
"Three," replies the man, wondering.
"Well, six bits, then," says Texas Pete, "cash down."
At that the man straightens up a little.
"I ain't askin' for no water for my stock," says he, "but my wife
and baby has been out in this sun all day without a drop of
water. Our cask slipped a hoop and bust just this side of Dos
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Hiero by Xenophon: sounds,[23] the voice of praise, since all around you are for ever
praising everything you do and everything you say. Whilst, conversely,
to that most harsh and grating of all sounds, the language of abuse,
your ears are sealed, since no one cares to speak evil against a
monarch to his face.
[23] Cf. Cic. "pro Arch." 20, "Themistoclem illum dixisse aiunt cum ex
eo quaereretur, 'quod acroama aut cujus vocem libentissime
audiret': 'ejus, a quo sua virtus optime praedicaretur.'"
Then Hiero: And what pleasure do you suppose mere abstinence from evil
words implies, when it is an open secret that those silent persons are
cherishing all evil thoughts against the tyrant?[24] What mirth, do
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Little Britain by Washington Irving: grounds as the only true English wines; all others being
considered vile, outlandish beverages.
Little Britain has its long catalogue of city wonders, which its
inhabitants consider the wonders of the world: such as the
great bell of St. Paul's, which sours all the beer when it tolls;
the figures that strike the hours at St. Dunstan's clock; the
Monument; the lions in the Tower; and the wooden giants in
Guildhall. They still believe in dreams and fortune-telling, and
an old woman that lives in Bull-and-Mouth Street makes a
tolerable subsistence by detecting stolen goods, and promising
the girls good husbands. They are apt to be rendered
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