| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy: my body till your feet are on my shoulders: when you are there you
will, I think, be able to climb on to level ground.'
'What will you do?'
'Wait whilst you run for assistance.'
'I ought to have done that in the first place, ought I not?'
'I was in the act of slipping, and should have reached no stand-
point without your weight, in all probability. But don't let us
talk. Be brave, Elfride, and climb.'
She prepared to ascend, saying, 'This is the moment I anticipated
when on the tower. I thought it would come!'
'This is not a time for superstition,' said Knight. 'Dismiss all
A Pair of Blue Eyes |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: the ramparts. Until then, we maintain a stoical vigilance. We
shall dine when we can; but we shall end by dining.
The Lycosa, therefore, well aware of these lingering eventualities,
waits and is not unduly distressed by a prolonged abstinence. She
has an accommodating stomach, which is satisfied to be gorged to-
day and to remain empty afterwards for goodness knows how long. I
have sometimes neglected my catering-duties for weeks at a time;
and my boarders have been none the worse for it. After a more or
less protracted fast, they do not pine away, but are smitten with a
wolf-like hunger. All these ravenous eaters are alike: they
guzzle to excess to-day, in anticipation of to-morrow's dearth.
The Life of the Spider |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Tom Sawyer, Detective by Mark Twain: he would 'a' skipped out and been rich and independent
in a foreign land if he'd only had the luck to guess
what the screwdriver was in the carpet-bag for.
Well, it was a most exciting time, take it all around,
and Tom got cords of glory. The judge took the di'monds,
and stood up in his pulpit, and cleared his throat,
and shoved his spectacles back on his head, and says:
"I'll keep them and notify the owners; and when they
send for them it will be a real pleasure to me to hand
you the two thousand dollars, for you've earned the
money--yes, and you've earned the deepest and most
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