| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Ivanhoe by Walter Scott: the mastication of a mouthful of the dried
pease, he found it absolutely necessary to request
his pious entertainer to furnish him with some liquor;
who replied to his request by placing before
him a large can of the purest water from the fountain.
``It is from the well of St Dunstan,'' said he,
``in which, betwixt sun and sun, he baptized five
hundred heathen Danes and Britons---blessed be
his name!'' And applying his black beard to the
pitcher, he took a draught much more moderate in
quantity than his encomium seemed to warrant.
Ivanhoe |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini: hand; the crackling of undergrowth and the rustle of the leaves through
which they had thrust their passage had deafened their ears to other
sounds until this moment. They checked and waited where they stood,
barely screened by the few boughs that still might intervene between
them and the open, not daring to advance, and not daring to retreat
lest their movements should draw attention to themselves. They remained
absolutely still, scarcely breathing, their only hope being that if
these who came should chance to be enemies they might ride on without
looking to right or left. It was so slender a hope that Wilding looked
to the priming of his pistols, whilst Trenchard, who had none, loosened
his sword in its scabbard. Nearer came the riders.
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Voice of the City by O. Henry: are supposed to represent an idea that Nature has
failed to embody. The wisest of the Southrons can-
not tell you whence comes the Fool-Killer's name;
but few and happy are the households from the Ro-
anoke to the Rio Grande in which the name of Jesse
Holmes has not been pronounced or invoked. Always
with a smile, and often with a tear, is he summoned
to his official duty. A busy man is Jesse Holmes.
I remember the clear picture of him that hung on
the walls of my fancy during my barefoot days when
I was dodging his oft-threatened devoirs. To me
The Voice of the City |
