| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain: never minded my tooth at all."
"Your tooth, indeed! What's the matter with your
tooth?"
"One of them's loose, and it aches perfectly awful."
"There, there, now, don't begin that groaning again.
Open your mouth. Well -- your tooth IS loose, but
you're not going to die about that. Mary, get me a
silk thread, and a chunk of fire out of the kitchen."
Tom said:
"Oh, please, auntie, don't pull it out. It don't
hurt any more. I wish I may never stir if it does.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Enemies of Books by William Blades: the celebrated Convent of Mount Cassin, especially to see its library,
of which he had heard much. He accosted, with great courtesy,
one of the monks whose countenance attracted him, and begged him
to have the kindness to show him the library. `See for yourself,'
said the monk, brusquely, pointing at the same time to an old
stone staircase, broken with age. Boccaccio hastily mounted
in great joy at the prospect of a grand bibliographical treat.
Soon he reached the room, which was without key or even door
as protection to its treasures. What was his astonishment to see
that the grass growing in the window-sills actually darkened the room,
and that all the books and seats were an inch thick in dust.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Passion in the Desert by Honore de Balzac: his hands; in a moment he was free. He at once seized a rifle and a
dagger, then taking the precautions to provide himself with a sack of
dried dates, oats, and powder and shot, and to fasten a scimiter to
his waist, he leaped on to a horse, and spurred on vigorously in the
direction where he thought to find the French army. So impatient was
he to see a bivouac again that he pressed on the already tired courser
at such speed, that its flanks were lacerated with his spurs, and at
last the poor animal died, leaving the Frenchman alone in the desert.
After walking some time in the sand with all the courage of an escaped
convict, the soldier was obliged to stop, as the day had already
ended. In spite of the beauty of an Oriental sky at night, he felt he
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