| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: quieter than Ferdinand. He laughs loyally at his brother's jokes,
and sings the response to his songs, and wields a good second
paddle in the canoe.
Jean--commonly called Johnny--Morel is a tall, strong man of fifty,
with a bushy red beard that would do credit to a pirate. But when
you look at him more closely, you see that he has a clear, kind
blue eye and a most honest, friendly face under his slouch hat. He
has travelled these woods and waters for thirty years, so that he
knows the way through them by a thousand familiar signs, as well as
you know the streets of the city. He is our pathfinder.
The bow paddle in his canoe is held by his son Joseph, a lad not
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Massimilla Doni by Honore de Balzac: utter ruin. Among the gondoliers who serve the English--to whom
history here reads the lesson of their future fate--there are
descendants of long dead Doges whose names are older than those of
sovereigns. On some bridge, as you glide past it, if you are ever in
Venice, you may admire some lovely girl in rags, a poor child
belonging, perhaps, to one of the most famous patrician families. When
a nation of kings has fallen so low, naturally some curious characters
will be met with. It is not surprising that sparks should flash out
among the ashes.
These reflections, intended to justify the singularity of the persons
who figure in this narrative, shall not be indulged in any longer, for
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Heap O' Livin' by Edgar A. Guest: All have vanished in the bubblin'.
I am happy that I'm here
At the cannin' time of year.
Lord, I'm sorry for the feller
That is missin'
All the hissin'
Of the juices, red and yeller,
And can never sit and listen
To the rattle and the clatter
Of the sound of spoon on platter.
I am sorry for the single,
A Heap O' Livin' |
