| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: in. Or I may want a trusty woman to carry a letter or do an errand.
You will be one of my letter-boxes, one of my porters' lodges, one of
my messengers, neither more nor less.
"You are too red-haired; Auguste and I used to call you la Rousse; you
can keep that name. My aunt, an old-clothes dealer at the Temple, who
will come and see you, is the only person in the world you are to
obey; tell her everything that happens to you; she will find you a
husband, and be very useful to you."
And thus the bargain was struck, a diabolical compact like that which
had for so long bound Prudence Servien to Jacques Collin, and which
the man never failed to tighten; for, like the Devil, he had a passion
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Koran: but of those who play?'
He said, 'Nay, but your Lord is Lord of the heavens and the earth,
which He originated; and I am of those who testify to this; and, by
God! I will plot against your idols after ye have turned and shown
me your backs!'
So he brake them all in pieces, except a large one they had; that
haply they might refer it to that.
Said they, 'Who has done this with our gods? verily, he is of the
wrong-doers!' They said, 'We heard a youth mention them who is
called Abraham.'
Said they, 'Then bring him before the eyes of men; haply they will
 The Koran |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: just boarded the train. At first the clerk had remarked that the
seat opposite was occupied, and the old man had answered that he
should get out at the first station. Thus their conversation
started.
I was sitting not far from these two travellers, and, as the
train was not in motion, I could catch bits of their conversation
when others were not talking.
They talked first of the prices of goods and the condition of
business; they referred to a person whom they both knew; then
they plunged into the fair at Nijni Novgorod. The clerk boasted
of knowing people who were leading a gay life there, but the old
 The Kreutzer Sonata |