| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Cratylus by Plato: you mentioned first--the sun?
HERMOGENES: Very good.
SOCRATES: The origin of the sun will probably be clearer in the Doric
form, for the Dorians call him alios, and this name is given to him because
when he rises he gathers (alizoi) men together or because he is always
rolling in his course (aei eilein ion) about the earth; or from aiolein, of
which the meaning is the same as poikillein (to variegate), because he
variegates the productions of the earth.
HERMOGENES: But what is selene (the moon)?
SOCRATES: That name is rather unfortunate for Anaxagoras.
HERMOGENES: How so?
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from La Grenadiere by Honore de Balzac: the entrance examination of the Ecole polytechnique.
Sometimes of an evening he went down to the bridge of Tours. There was
a lieutenant there on half-pay, an Imperial naval officer, whose manly
face, medal, and gait had made an impression on the boy's imagination,
and the officer on his side had taken a liking to the lad, whose eyes
sparkled with energy. Louis, hungering for tales of adventure, and
eager for information, used to follow in the lieutenant's wake for the
chance of a chat with him. It so happened that the sailor had a friend
and comrade in the colonel of a regiment of infantry, struck off the
rolls like himself; and young Louis-Gaston had a chance of learning
what life was like in camp or on board a man-of-war. Of course, he
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Sarrasine by Honore de Balzac: fear. Sarrasine was striding up and down the studio. Suddenly he
halted in front of Zambinella.
" 'Tell me the truth,' he said, in a changed and hollow voice. 'Are
you not a woman? Cardinal Cicognara----'
"Zambinella fell on his knees, and replied only by hanging his head.
" 'Ah! you are a woman!' cried the artist in a frenzy; 'for even a--'
"He did not finish the sentence.
" 'No,' he continued, 'even /he/ could not be so utterly base.'
" 'Oh, do not kill me!' cried Zambinella, bursting into tears. 'I
consented to deceive you only to gratify my comrades, who wanted an
opportunity to laugh.'
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