| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Passion in the Desert by Honore de Balzac: courage of M. Martin, he smiled, shook his head knowingly, and said,
'Well known.'
" 'How "well known"?' I said. 'If you would only explain me the
mystery, I should be vastly obliged.'
"After a few minutes, during which we made acquaintance, we went to
dine at the first restauranteur's whose shop caught our eye. At
dessert a bottle of champagne completely refreshed and brightened up
the memories of this odd old soldier. He told me his story, and I saw
that he was right when he exclaimed, 'Well known.' "
When she got home, she teased me to that extent, was so charming, and
made so many promises, that I consented to communicate to her the
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Personal Record by Joseph Conrad: responded professionally to it with the thought that at eight
o'clock, in another half hour or so at the farthest, the
topgallant sails would have to come off the ship.
Next day, but this time in the first dog watch, Jacques entered
my cabin. He had a thick woollen muffler round his throat, and
the MS. was in his hand. He tendered it to me with a steady
look, but without a word. I took it in silence. He sat down on
the couch and still said nothing. I opened and shut a drawer
under my desk, on which a filled-up log-slate lay wide open in
its wooden frame waiting to be copied neatly into the sort of
book I was accustomed to write with care, the ship's log-book. I
A Personal Record |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen: hung in long garlands from tree to tree, where the nightingale sang and the
sunbeams were playing: it was very beautiful, but it was no place for girls to
go; their clothes would get so torn. Large blocks of stone lay there,
overgrown with moss of every color; the fresh spring bubbled forth, and made a
strange gurgling sound.
"That surely cannot be the bell," said one of the children, lying down and
listening. "This must be looked to." So he remained, and let the others go on
without him.
They afterwards came to a little house, made of branches and the bark of
trees; a large wild apple-tree bent over it, as if it would shower down all
its blessings on the roof, where roses were blooming. The long stems twined
Fairy Tales |
