| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Island Nights' Entertainments by Robert Louis Stevenson: stuck my knife between my teeth, walked right up to that tree, and
began to climb. I tell you my heart was like ice. But presently,
as I went up, I caught another glimpse of the thing, and that
relieved me, for I thought it seemed like a box; and when I had got
right up to it I near fell out of the tree with laughing.
A box it was, sure enough, and a candle-box at that, with the brand
upon the side of it; and it had banjo strings stretched so as to
sound when the wind blew. I believe they call the thing a Tyrolean
(3) harp, whatever that may mean.
"Well, Mr. Case," said I, "you've frightened me once, but I defy
you to frighten me again," I says, and slipped down the tree, and
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Lady Susan by Jane Austen: satisfy your father, and he is certainly less uneasy since Reginald's
letter. How provoking it is, my dear Catherine, that this unwelcome guest
of yours should not only prevent our meeting this Christmas, but be the
occasion of so much vexation and trouble! Kiss the dear children for me.
Your affectionate mother,
C. DE COURCY.
XIV
MR. DE COURCY TO SIR REGINALD
Churchhill.
My dear Sir,--I have this moment received your letter, which has given
me more astonishment than I ever felt before. I am to thank my sister, I
Lady Susan |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Damnation of Theron Ware by Harold Frederic: the flowers in his garden, and to Alice's behavior toward him.
They insisted upon connecting themselves in his thoughts.
Why should Levi Gorringe, a money-lender, and therefore
the last man in the world to incur reckless expenditure,
go and buy perhaps a hundred dollars, worth of flowers
for his wife's garden? It was time--high time--to face
this question. And his experiencing religion afterward,
just when Alice did, and marching down to the rail to kneel
beside her--that was a thing to be thought of, too.
Meditation, it is true, hardly threw fresh light upon
the matter. It was incredible, of course, that there
The Damnation of Theron Ware |
