| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Within the Tides by Joseph Conrad: He perceived that the six brass buttons of Tom's jacket had been
cut off. He shuddered at the notion of the two miserable and
repulsive witches busying themselves ghoulishly about the
defenceless body of his friend. Cut off. Perhaps with the same
knife which . . . The head of one trembled; the other was bent
double, and their eyes were red and bleared, their infamous claws
unsteady. . . It must have been in this very room too, for Tom
could not have been killed in the open and brought in here
afterwards. Of that Byrne was certain. Yet those devilish crones
could not have killed him themselves even by taking him unawares -
and Tom would be always on his guard of course. Tom was a very
Within the Tides |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Salome by Oscar Wilde: les oreilles des sourds seront ouvertes . . . Le nouveau-ne mettra
sa main sur le nid des dragons, et menera les lions par leurs
crinieres.
SECOND SOLDAT. Faites-le taire. Il dit toujours des choses
absurdes.
PREMIER SOLDAT. Mais non; c'est un saint homme. Il est tres doux
aussi. Chaque jour je lui donne e manger. Il me remercie toujours.
LE CAPPADOCIEN. Qui est-ce?
PREMIER SOLDAT. C'est un prophete.
LE CAPPADOCIEN. Quel est son nom?
PREMIER SOLDAT. Iokanaan.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: he would first betray his terrible condition--would he attack a
waiter? or eat glass?--and when he had mounted into a cab, he
bade the man drive to Nichol's, with a lurking fear that there
was no such place.
The flaring, gassy entrance of the cafe speedily set his mind at
rest; he was cheered besides to recognize his favourite waiter;
his orders appeared to be coherent; the dinner, when it came, was
quite a sensible meal, and he ate it with enjoyment. 'Upon my
word,' he reflected, 'I am about tempted to indulge a hope. Have
I been hasty? Have I done what Robert Skill would have done?'
Robert Skill (I need scarcely mention) was the name of the
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