| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Tales and Fantasies by Robert Louis Stevenson: did not return his gaze.
'For ever,' added Dick.
'For ever,' she repeated mechanically.
'I have had hard measure,' he continued. 'In time I believe
I could have shown you I was worthy, and there was no time
long enough to show how much I loved you. But it was not to
be. I have lost all.'
He relinquished her hand, still looking at her, and she
turned to leave the room.
'Why, what in fortune's name is the meaning of all this?'
cried Van Tromp. 'Esther come back!'
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad: he wasn't such a stranger to me as I had assumed he was; and yet,
on the other hand, I was perfectly certain I had never seen him
before. Next moment I felt that I could have knocked him down if
he hadn't looked so amazingly unhappy, while he came out with the
astounding question: "Senor, have you ever been a lover in your
young days?"
"What do you mean?" I asked. "How old do you think I am?"
"That's true," he said, gazing at me in a way in which the damned
gaze out of their cauldrons of boiling pitch at some soul walking
scot free in the place of torment. "It's true, you don't seem to
have anything on your mind." He assumed an air of ease, throwing
The Arrow of Gold |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: would have been contrary to Cyrus Harding's instructions.
It is true that the enterprise might succeed, but it might also fail.
Now, if the convicts were suspecting nothing, if they knew nothing of the
expedition against them, if, lastly, there now existed a chance of
surprising them, ought this chance to be lost by inconsiderately attempting
to cross the palisades?
This was not the reporter's opinion. He thought it better to wait until
all the settlers were collected together before attempting to penetrate into
the corral. One thing was certain, that it was possible to reach the
palisade without being seen, and also that it did not appear to be guarded.
This point settled, there was nothing to be done but to return to the cart,
The Mysterious Island |
