| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Whirligigs by O. Henry: might see anywhere.
There they were -- the murderer and the woman he
had stolen. There we were -- the rightful avenger,
according to the code, and the supernumerary who writes
these words.
For one time, at least, in the heart of the supernumerary
there rose the killing instinct. For one moment he joined
the force of combatants -- orally.
"What are you waiting for, Sam?" I said in a whisper.
"Let him have it now!"
Sam gave a melancholy sigh.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Father Sergius by Leo Tolstoy: nightingales--one quite near at hand and two or three others in
the bushes down by the river--burst into full song after some
preliminary twitters. From the river came the far-off songs of
peasants returning, no doubt, from their work. The sun was
setting behind the forest, its last rays glowing through the
leaves. All that side was brilliant green, the other side with
the elm tree was dark. The cockchafers flew clumsily about,
falling to the ground when they collided with anything.
After supper Father Sergius began to repeat a silent prayer: 'O
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon us!' and then he
read a psalm, and suddenly in the middle of the psalm a sparrow
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Soul of the Far East by Percival Lowell: if he were so descended, he becomes a student. Having failed to
discover in the school-room the futility of his country's
self-vaunted learning, he proceeds to devote his life to its
pursuit. With an application which is eminently praiseworthy, even
if its object be not, he sets to work to steep himself in the
classics till he can perceive no merit in anything else. As might
be suspected, he ends by discovering in the sayings of the past more
meaning than the simple past ever dreamed of putting there.
He becomes more Confucian than Confucius. Indeed, it is fortunate
for the reputation of the sage that he cannot return to earth, for
he might disagree to his detriment with his own commentators.
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