| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske: sold their sons and daughters, till at length no buyer of
children could be found; they ate the leaves of trees and the
grass of the field; and in June, 1770, the Resident at the Durbar
affirmed that the living were feeding on the dead. Day and night
a torrent of famished and disease-stricken wretches poured into
the great cities. At an early period of the year pestilence had
broken out. In March we find small-pox at Moorshedabad, where it
glided through the vice-regal mutes, and cut off the Prince Syfut
in his palace. The streets were blocked up with promiscuous heaps
of the dying and dead. Interment could not do its work quick
enough; even the dogs and jackals, the public scavengers of the
The Unseen World and Other Essays |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: his hands the remedy for the evils which so deeply saddened him, and
could not apply it, ate into his soul, and this rage was increased by
the inferiority of France at that time, as compared with Russia and
England. France a third-rate power! This cry came up again and again
in his conversation. The intestinal disorders of his country had
entered into his soul. All the contests between the Court and the
Chamber, showing, as they did, incessant change and constant
vacillation, which must injure the prosperity of the country, he
scoffed at as backstairs squabbles.
"This is peace at the cost of the future," said he.
One evening Juste and I were at work, sitting in perfect silence.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: not attack it during your absence, knowing that there is no one here but a
wounded boy and a man?"
"You are right, captain," replied Pencroft, his chest swelling with
sullen anger. "You are right; they will do all they can to retake the
corral, which they know to be well stored; and alone you could not hold it
against them."
"Oh, if we were only at Granite House!"
"If we were at Granite House," answered the engineer, "the case would be
very different. There I should not be afraid to leave Herbert with one,
while the other three went to search the forests of the island. But we are
at the corral, and it is best to stay here until we can leave it together."
The Mysterious Island |
