| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Catherine de Medici by Honore de Balzac: before the people, as Louis XVI. was, a king must inevitably succumb.
Christophe Lecamus was a fine representative of the ardent and devoted
portion of the people. His wan face had the sharp hectic tones which
distinguish certain fair complexions; his hair was yellow, of a
coppery shade; his gray-blue eyes were sparkling. In them alone was
his fine soul visible; for his ill-proportioned face did not atone for
its triangular shape by the noble mien of an elevated mind, and his
low forehead indicated only extreme energy. Life seemed to centre in
his chest, which was rather hollow. More nervous than sanguine,
Cristophe's bodily appearance was thin and threadlike, but wiry. His
pointed noise expressed the shrewdness of the people, and his
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Brother of Daphne by Dornford Yates: agreed to 'all found,' you know. You wait. And I think your
eyes are absolutely wonderful. How did it go?
'I thought they were stars,
And I know they were shining.'"
She looked me full in the eyes now, and a grand smile swept into
her face. Then she put her arms round my neck and kissed me.
The next moment she was half-way up the broad stairs.
Ten minutes later I brought the car round to the door. Niece and
uncle and aunt all sat together on the back seat. As I shut the
door:
"We don't want to go too far, Norval, or too fast. Lady Brethe
The Brother of Daphne |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett: heard faintly, yet still be heard; we might have been a company of
ancient Greeks going to celebrate a victory, or to worship the god
of harvests, in the grove above. It was strangely moving to see
this and to make part of it. The sky, the sea, have watched
poor humanity at its rites so long; we were no more a New England
family celebrating its own existence and simple progress; we
carried the tokens and inheritance of all such households from
which this had descended, and were only the latest of our line. We
possessed the instincts of a far, forgotten childhood; I found
myself thinking that we ought to be carrying green branches and
singing as we went. So we came to the thick shaded grove still
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