The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: value of my first cargo, and was now infinitely beyond my poor
neighbour - I mean in the advancement of my plantation; for the
first thing I did, I bought me a negro slave, and an European
servant also - I mean another besides that which the captain
brought me from Lisbon.
But as abused prosperity is oftentimes made the very means of our
greatest adversity, so it was with me. I went on the next year
with great success in my plantation: I raised fifty great rolls of
tobacco on my own ground, more than I had disposed of for
necessaries among my neighbours; and these fifty rolls, being each
of above a hundredweight, were well cured, and laid by against the
Robinson Crusoe |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas: like drops of poison, she did not dream, but she wept.
The fact was, that, as Rosa was a high-spirited creature, of
no mean perception and a noble heart, she took a very clear
and judicious view of her own social position, if not of her
moral and physical qualities.
Cornelius was a scholar, and was wealthy, -- at least he had
been before the confiscation of his property; Cornelius
belonged to the merchant-bourgeoisie, who were prouder of
their richly emblazoned shop signs than the hereditary
nobility of their heraldic bearings. Therefore, although he
might find Rosa a pleasant companion for the dreary hours of
The Black Tulip |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Gambara by Honore de Balzac: "During that period of weakness I more than once expressed my passion
in the language of earthly harmony. I even wrote some of those airs,
just like geometrical patterns, which are so much admired in the world
of fashion that you move in. But as soon as I made a little way I met
with insuperable obstacles raised by my rivals, all hypercritical or
unappreciative.
"I had heard of France as being a country where novelties were
favorably received, and I wanted to get there; my wife had a little
money and we came to Paris. Till then no one had actually laughed in
my face; but in this dreadful city I had to endure that new form of
torture, to which abject poverty ere long added its bitter sufferings.
Gambara |