| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen: the evening paper, and happened to notice a paragraph headed:
'Starved to Death.' It was the usual style of thing; a model
lodging-house in Marlyebone, a door locked for several days, and
a dead man in his chair when they broke in. 'The deceased,'said
the paragraph, 'was known as Charles Herbert, and is believed to
have been once a prosperous country gentleman. His name was
familiar to the public three years ago in connection with the
mysterious death in Paul Street, Tottenham Court Road, the
deceased being the tenant of the house Number 20, in the area of
which a gentleman of good position was found dead under
circumstances not devoid of suspicion.' A tragic ending, wasn't
The Great God Pan |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Some Reminiscences by Joseph Conrad: evening (with an hour and a half off for meals), so I ought to
know.
And I love letters. I am jealous of their honour and concerned
for the dignity and comeliness of their service. I was, most
likely, the only writer that neat lady had ever caught in the
exercise of his craft, and it distressed me not to be able to
remember when it was that I dressed myself last, and how. No
doubt that would be all right in essentials. The fortune of the
house included a pair of grey-blue watchful eyes that would see
to that. But I felt somehow as grimy as a Costaguana lepero
after a day's fighting in the streets, rumpled all over and
Some Reminiscences |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Duchesse de Langeais by Honore de Balzac: hands and my heart. One of them is a surgeon----"
"A surgeon! Armand, my friend, of all things, suspense is the
hardest to bear. Just speak; tell me if you wish for my life; I
will give it to you, you shall not take it----"
"Then you did not understand me? Did I not speak just now of
justice? To put an end to your misapprehensions," continued he,
taking up a small steel object from the table, "I will now
explain what I have decided with regard to you."
He held out a Lorraine cross, fastened to the tip of a steel rod.
"Two of my friends at this very moment are heating another
cross, made on this pattern, red-hot. We are going to stamp it
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