| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne: high rank, followed by a brilliant escort of Usbeck horse-
men, moved to the front of the camp to receive Ivan Ogareff.
Arrived in his presence, they paid him the greatest re-
spect, and invited him to accompany them to Feofar-Khan's
tent.
Imperturbable as usual, Ogareff replied coldly to the
deference paid to him. He was plainly dressed; but, from
a sort of impudent bravado, he still wore the uniform of a
Russian officer.
As he was about to enter the camp, Sangarre, passing
among the officers approached and remained motionless be-
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: which reason, he said, the very greatest dancers--Camargo, Guimard,
and Taglioni, all of them thin, brown, and plain--could only redeem
their physical defects by their genius. Tullia, still in the height of
her glory, retired before younger and cleverer dancers; she did
wisely. She was an aristocrat; she had scarcely stooped below the
noblesse in her /liaisons/; she declined to dip her ankles in the
troubled waters of July. Insolent and beautiful as she was, Claudine
possessed handsome souvenirs, but very little ready money; still, her
jewels were magnificent, and she had as fine furniture as any one in
Paris.
"On quitting the stage when she, forgotten to-day, was yet in the
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac: dance was proposed and accepted. The ladies did not despair of making
a young girl of sixteen talk.
Notwithstanding the little clouds piled up by suspicion and created by
curiosity, a light of joy shone in Emilie's soul, for she found life
delicious when thus intimately connected with another than herself.
She began to understand the relations of life. Whether it is that
happiness makes us better, or that she was too fully occupied to
torment other people, she became less caustic, more gentle, and
indulgent. This change in her temper enchanted and amazed her family.
Perhaps, at last, her selfishness was being transformed to love. It
was a deep delight to her to look for the arrival of her bashful and
|