| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honore de Balzac: silk stockings, and shoes with ribbon ties, which were often
unfastened. His surtout coat, olive-green and always too large, and
his broad-brimmed hat gave him the air of a Quaker. When he dressed
for the Sunday evening festivities he put on silk breeches, shoes with
gold buckles, and the inevitable square waistcoat, whose front edges
opened sufficiently to show a pleated shirt-frill. His coat, of maroon
cloth, had wide flaps and long skirts. Up to the year 1819 he kept up
the habit of wearing two watch-chains, which hung down in parallel
lines; but he only put on the second when he dressed for the evening.
*****
Such was Cesar Birotteau; a worthy man, to whom the fates presiding at
Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde: must enter his proposal in my diary.
[Enter MERRIMAN.]
MERRIMAN. A Miss Fairfax has just called to see Mr. Worthing. On
very important business, Miss Fairfax states.
CECILY. Isn't Mr. Worthing in his library?
MERRIMAN. Mr. Worthing went over in the direction of the Rectory
some time ago.
CECILY. Pray ask the lady to come out here; Mr. Worthing is sure
to be back soon. And you can bring tea.
MERRIMAN. Yes, Miss. [Goes out.]
CECILY. Miss Fairfax! I suppose one of the many good elderly
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: buy the picture. He lives in the Via Papa Giulio."
Wyant sat at the table d'hote of his hotel, re-reading his
friend's letter over a late luncheon. He had been five days in
Siena without having found time to call on Doctor Lombard; not
from any indifference to the opportunity presented, but because
it was his first visit to the strange red city and he was still
under the spell of its more conspicuous wonders--the brick
palaces flinging out their wrought-iron torch-holders with a
gesture of arrogant suzerainty; the great council-chamber
emblazoned with civic allegories; the pageant of Pope Julius on
the Library walls; the Sodomas smiling balefully through the dusk
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