| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad: that I was going out on some midnight business. I passed her
without a word and heard behind me the door of the studio close
with an unexpected crash. It strikes me now that under the
circumstances I might have without shame gone back to listen at the
keyhole. But truth to say the association of events was not so
clear in my mind as it may be to the reader of this story. Neither
were the exact connections of persons present to my mind. And,
besides, one doesn't listen at a keyhole but in pursuance of some
plan; unless one is afflicted by a vulgar and fatuous curiosity.
But that vice is not in my character. As to plan, I had none. I
moved along the passage between the dead wall and the black-and-
The Arrow of Gold |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: eyes; epauliers, or shoulder-plates; arm-plates and leg-pieces;
and a bascinet, or open- faced helmet. A great triangular shield
covered with leather and studded with bosses of iron, and a heavy
broadsword, pointed and dulled at the edges, completed the
equipment.
The practice at the pels which Myles was bidden to attend
comprised the chief exercise of the day with the esquires of
young cadet soldiers of that time, and in it they learned not
only all the strokes, cuts, and thrusts of sword-play then in
vogue, but also toughness, endurance, and elastic quickness. The
pels themselves consisted of upright posts of ash or oak, about
Men of Iron |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy: but it was much smaller, and there were fewer visitors and fewer
prisoners, so that there was less shouting than in the men's
room. Yet the same thing was going on here, only, between the
nets instead of soldiers there was a woman warder, dressed in a
blue-edged uniform jacket, with gold cords on the sleeves, and a
blue belt. Here also, as in the men's room, the people were
pressing close to the wire netting on both sides; on the nearer
side, the townspeople in varied attire; on the further side, the
prisoners, some in white prison clothes, others in their own
coloured dresses. The whole length of the net was taken up by the
people standing close to it. Some rose on tiptoe to be heard
Resurrection |
