| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Heart of the West by O. Henry: sneaks 'em in when you're asleep. And they make marks in the soot in
the chimney with the tongs to look like Santa's sleigh tracks."
"That might be so," argued Trinidad, "but Christmas trees ain't no
fairy tale. This one's goin' to look like the ten-cent store in
Albuquerque, all strung up in a redwood. There's tops and drums and
Noah's arks and--"
"Oh, rats!" said Bobby, wearily. "I cut them out long ago. I'd like to
have a rifle--not a target one--a real one, to shoot wildcats with;
but I guess you won't have any of them on your old tree."
"Well, I can't say for sure," said Trinidad diplomatically; "it might
be. You go along with us and see."
Heart of the West |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Heroes by Charles Kingsley: because their king had found a noble son, and an heir to his
royal house.
So Theseus stayed with his father all the winter: and when
the spring equinox drew near, all the Athenians grew sad and
silent, and Theseus saw it, and asked the reason; but no one
would answer him a word.
Then he went to his father, and asked him: but AEgeus turned
away his face and wept.
'Do not ask, my son, beforehand, about evils which must
happen: it is enough to have to face them when they come.'
And when the spring equinox came, a herald came to Athens,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Statesman by Plato: arrived at man, and found the political and royal science. And yet we have
not clearly distinguished the political shepherd from his rivals. No one
would think of usurping the prerogatives of the ordinary shepherd, who on
all hands is admitted to be the trainer, matchmaker, doctor, musician of
his flock. But the royal shepherd has numberless competitors, from whom he
must be distinguished; there are merchants, husbandmen, physicians, who
will all dispute his right to manage the flock. I think that we can best
distinguish him by having recourse to a famous old tradition, which may
amuse as well as instruct us; the narrative is perfectly true, although the
scepticism of mankind is prone to doubt the tales of old. You have heard
what happened in the quarrel of Atreus and Thyestes? 'You mean about the
Statesman |
