| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: All because of a Mujina that used to walk there. (1)
The last man who saw the Mujina was an old merchant of the Kyobashi
quarter, who died about thirty years ago. This is the story, as he told
it:--
One night, at a late hour, he was hurrying up the Kii-no-kuni-zaka, when
he perceived a woman crouching by the moat, all alone, and weeping
bitterly. Fearing that she intended to drown herself, he stopped to offer
her any assistance or consolation in his power. She appeared to be a slight
and graceful person, handsomely dressed; and her hair was arranged like
that of a young girl of good family. "O-jochu," [1] he exclaimed,
approaching her,-- "O-jochu, do not cry like that!... Tell me what the
Kwaidan |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Animal Farm by George Orwell: and throughout that year a wave of rebelliousness ran through the
countryside. Bulls which had always been tractable suddenly turned savage,
sheep broke down hedges and devoured the clover, cows kicked the pail
over, hunters refused their fences and shot their riders on to the other
side. Above all, the tune and even the words of 'Beasts of England' were
known everywhere. It had spread with astonishing speed. The human beings
could not contain their rage when they heard this song, though they
pretended to think it merely ridiculous. They could not understand, they
said, how even animals could bring themselves to sing such contemptible
rubbish. Any animal caught singing it was given a flogging on the spot.
And yet the song was irrepressible. The blackbirds whistled it in the
Animal Farm |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Hiero by Xenophon: such ministration where the wife is but a slave--when present, barely
noticed; or if lacking, what fell pains and passions will it not
engender!
[36] Or, "the gentle ministrations of loftiest-thoughted women and
fair wives possess a charm past telling, but from slaves, if
tendered, the reverse of welcome, or if not forthcoming . . ."
And if we come to masculine attachments, still more than in those
whose end is procreation, the tyrant finds himself defrauded of such
mirthfulness,[37] poor monarch! Since all of us are well aware, I
fancy, that for highest satisfaction,[38] amorous deeds need love's
strong passion.[39]
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