| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Menexenus by Plato: and private capacity many noble deeds famous over the whole world. They
were the deeds of men who thought that they ought to fight both against
Hellenes for the sake of Hellenes on behalf of freedom, and against
barbarians in the common interest of Hellas. Time would fail me to tell of
their defence of their country against the invasion of Eumolpus and the
Amazons, or of their defence of the Argives against the Cadmeians, or of
the Heracleids against the Argives; besides, the poets have already
declared in song to all mankind their glory, and therefore any
commemoration of their deeds in prose which we might attempt would hold a
second place. They already have their reward, and I say no more of them;
but there are other worthy deeds of which no poet has worthily sung, and
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: disagreement. "I am no justifying Killbuck a'thegither neither,
and I am sure it is as vexing to me as to you, Elshie, that the
mischance should hae happened; but I'll send you twa goats and
twa fat gimmers, man, to make a' straight again. A wise man like
you shouldna bear malice against a poor dumb thing; ye see that a
goat's like first-cousin to a deer, sae he acted but according to
his nature after a'. Had it been a pet-lamb, there wad hae been
mair to be said. Ye suld keep sheep, Elshie, and no goats, where
there's sae mony deerhounds about--but I'll send ye baith."
"Wretch!" said the Hermit, "your cruelty has destroyed one of
the only creatures in existence that would look on me with
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Amy Foster by Joseph Conrad: on board an emigrant-ship lying at the mouth of
the Elbe, too bewildered to take note of his sur-
roundings, too weary to see anything, too anxious
to care. They were driven below into the 'tween-
deck and battened down from the very start. It
was a low timber dwelling--he would say--with
wooden beams overhead, like the houses in his coun-
try, but you went into it down a ladder. It was
very large, very cold, damp and sombre, with places
in the manner of wooden boxes where people had to
sleep, one above another, and it kept on rocking all
Amy Foster |
