| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Ferragus by Honore de Balzac: thoughts, is he likely to make an answer? Will he not employ some
other means more in keeping with his power? He may send his answer by
some beggar; or in a carton brought by an honest man, who does not
suspect what he brings; or in some parcel of shoes, which a shop-girl
may innocently deliver to my wife. If Clemence and he have agreed upon
such means--"
He distrusted all things; his mind ran over vast tracts and shoreless
oceans of conjecture. Then, after floating for a time among a thousand
contradictory ideas, he felt he was strongest in his own house, and he
resolved to watch it as the ant-lion watches his sandy labyrinth.
"Fouguereau," he said to the porter, "I am not at home to any one who
Ferragus |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Moby Dick by Herman Melville: Horn, and was the first among the nations to lower a whale-boat of
any sort in the great South Sea. The voyage was a skilful and lucky
one; and returning to her berth with her hold full of the precious
sperm, the Amelia's example was soon followed by other ships, English
and American, and thus the vast Sperm Whale grounds of the Pacific
were thrown open. But not content with this good deed, the
indefatigable house again bestirred itself: Samuel and all his
Sons--how many, their mother only knows--and under their immediate
auspices, and partly, I think, at their expense, the British
government was induced to send the sloop-of-war Rattler on a whaling
voyage of discovery into the South Sea. Commanded by a naval
Moby Dick |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Camille by Alexandre Dumas: my distress.
I was not strong enough to endure the blow alone. Then I
remembered that my father was in the same city, that I might be
with him in ten minutes, and that, whatever might be the cause of
my sorrow, he would share it.
I ran like a madman, like a thief, to the Hotel de Paris; I found
the key in the door of my father's room; I entered. He was
reading. He showed so little astonishment at seeing me, that it
was as if he was expecting me. I flung myself into his arms
without saying a word. I gave him Marguerite's letter, and,
falling on my knees beside his bed, I wept hot tears.
Camille |
