| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Manon Lescaut by Abbe Prevost: should return in a few minutes, but on no account to say that she
had spoken to me of M. de B----.
"My horror was so great, that I shed tears as I went along,
hardly knowing from what feeling they flowed. I entered a
coffee-house close by, and placing myself at a table, I buried my
face between my hands, as though I would turn my eyes inward to
ascertain what was passing in my heart. Still, I dared not
recall what I had heard the moment before. I strove to look upon
it as a dream; and was more than once on the point of returning
to my lodgings, determined to attach no importance to what I had
heard.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac: Sobs cut short the words.
"We will pray for him," said Madame Grandet. "Resign yourself to the
will of God."
"Cousin," said Eugenie, "take courage! Your loss is irreparable;
therefore think only of saving your honor."
With the delicate instinct of a woman who intuitively puts her mind
into all things, even at the moment when she offers consolation,
Eugenie sought to cheat her cousin's grief by turning his thoughts
inward upon himself.
"My honor?" exclaimed the young man, tossing aside his hair with an
impatient gesture as he sat up on his bed and crossed his arms. "Ah!
Eugenie Grandet |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Man of Business by Honore de Balzac: "Maxime had still to learn what sort of a life a man may be led into
by a girl of eighteen when she is minded to take a header from her
honest garret into a sumptuous carriage; it is a lesson that all
statesmen should take to heart. At this time, de Marsay had just been
employing his friend, our friend de Trailles, in the high comedy of
politics. Maxime had looked high for his conquests; he had no
experience of untitled women; and at fifty years he felt that he had a
right to take a bite of the so-called wild fruit, much as a sportsman
will halt under a peasant's apple-tree. So the Count found a reading-
room for Mlle. Chocardelle, a rather smart little place to be had
cheap, as usual--"
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