| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy: him from his shop out here at this time and not a journeyman hair-
cutter, but a master-barber that's left off his pole because 'tis
not genteel!"
They listened to his conversation, but Mr. Percombe, though he had
nodded and spoken genially, seemed indisposed to gratify the
curiosity which he had aroused; and the unrestrained flow of ideas
which had animated the inside of the van before his arrival was
checked thenceforward.
Thus they rode on till they turned into a half-invisible little
lane, whence, as it reached the verge of an eminence, could be
discerned in the dusk, about half a mile to the right, gardens and
The Woodlanders |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: own melancholy tale; but that of Ajax son of Telamon alone held
aloof--still angry with me for having won the cause in our
dispute about the armour of Achilles. Thetis had offered it as
a prize, but the Trojan prisoners and Minerva were the judges.
Would that I had never gained the day in such a contest, for it
cost the life of Ajax, who was foremost of all the Danaans after
the son of Peleus, alike in stature and prowess.
"When I saw him I tried to pacify him and said, 'Ajax, will you
not forget and forgive even in death, but must the judgement
about that hateful armour still rankle with you? It cost us
Argives dear enough to lose such a tower of strength as you were
The Odyssey |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Under the Andes by Rex Stout: spears--our only tools--until we could stand it no longer, we
staggered off to the stream like drunken men, sick and faint with
the sight and smell of the mess.
But that, too, came to an end, and finally we marched off to
the camp, which we had removed a half-mile upstream, dragging after
us a piece of the hide about thirty feet long and half as wide. It
was not as heavy as we had thought, which made it all the better
for our purpose.
The remainder of our task, though tedious, was not unpleasant.
We first made the larger bones, which were to serve as the
beams of our raft, exactly the same length by filing off the ends
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