| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Ferragus by Honore de Balzac: Foreign affairs to the pacha of the Interior, Jacquet hoped to carry
the matter by assault. He was ready with reasons, and answers to
peremptory questions,--in short, he was armed at all points; but he
failed.
"This matter does not concern me," said the minister; "it belongs to
the prefect of police. Besides, there is no law giving a husband any
legal right to the body of his wife, nor to fathers those of their
children. The matter is serious. There are questions of public utility
involved which will have to be examined. The interests of the city of
Paris might suffer. Therefore if the matter depended on me, which it
does not, I could not decide /hic et nunc/; I should require a
Ferragus |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Confidence by Henry James: while the gurgitation of the waves grew deeper to his ear,
the prospect came to have an element of positive terror.
The two faces of his situation stood confronting each other;
it was a rigid, brutal opposition, and Bernard held his breath
for a while with the wonder of what would come of it.
He sat a long time upon the beach; the night grew very cold,
but he had no sense of it. Then he went away and passed
before the Casino again, and wandered through the village.
The Casino was shrouded in darkness and silence, and there was nothing
in the streets of the little town but the salt smell of the sea,
a vague aroma of fish and the distant sound of the breakers.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde: MRS. CHEVELEY. [Starting.] What do you mean?
LORD GORING. I mean that you stole that ornament from my cousin,
Mary Berkshire, to whom I gave it when she was married. Suspicion
fell on a wretched servant, who was sent away in disgrace. I
recognised it last night. I determined to say nothing about it till
I had found the thief. I have found the thief now, and I have heard
her own confession.
MRS. CHEVELEY. [Tossing her head.] It is not true.
LORD GORING. You know it is true. Why, thief is written across your
face at this moment.
MRS. CHEVELEY. I will deny the whole affair from beginning to end.
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