| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: teeth allowed no doubt as to his occupation. He was
certainly eating, and noisily too, like an ill-bred man.
"Brute!" said Danglars. Peppino pretended not to hear him,
and without even turning his head continued to eat slowly.
Danglars' stomach felt so empty, that it seemed as if it
would be impossible ever to fill it again; still he had
patience for another half-hour, which appeared to him like a
century. He again arose and went to the door. "Come, sir, do
not keep me starving here any longer, but tell me what they
want."
"Nay, your excellency, it is you who should tell us what you
The Count of Monte Cristo |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Under the Andes by Rex Stout: I sat up, listening and peering into the darkness. And this time
I was not mistaken--there was a sound, rustling, sibilant.
Little by little it increased, or rather approached, until it
sounded but a few feet from me on every side, sinister and
menacing. It was the silent, suppressed breathing of something
living--whether animal or man--creeping ever nearer.
Then was the darkness doubly horrible. I sat paralyzed with
my utter helplessness, though fear, thank Heaven, did not strike
me! I could hear no footstep; no sound of any kind but that low,
rushing breathing; but it now was certain that whatever the thing
was, it was not alone.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Snow Image by Nathaniel Hawthorne: "Oho," quoth he, "the old earth is frolicsome to-night!"
When there was a momentary calm in that tempestuous sea of sound,
the leader gave the sign, the procession resumed its march. On
they went, like fiends that throng in mockery around some dead
potentate, mighty no more, but majestic still in his agony. On
they went, in counterfeited pomp, in senseless uproar, in
frenzied merriment, trampling all on an old man's heart. On swept
the tumult, and left a silent street behind.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"Well, Robin, are you dreaming?" inquired the gentleman, laying
his hand on the youth's shoulder.
The Snow Image |
