| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: the first drop has been poured, so my love for
Varinka seemed to set free the whole force of lov-
ing within me. In surrounding her it embraced the
world. I loved the hostess with her diadem and
her shoulders like Elizabeth, and her husband and
her guests and her footmen, and even the engineer
Anisimov who felt peevish towards me. As for
Varinka's father, with his home-made boots and
his kind smile, so like her own, I felt a sort of ten-
derness for him that was almost rapture.
"After supper I danced the promised quadrille
The Forged Coupon |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard: he was too good for such rough work, but I persuaded him to do
so, thinking that Nyleptha would be hurt if he did not. Little
did I guess at the time what service that noble horse would render
in our sorest need. It is curious to look back and realize upon
what trivial and apparently coincidental circumstances great
events frequently turn as easily and naturally as a door on its
hinges.
Well, we took the horse, and a beauty he was, it was a perfect
pleasure to see him move, and Curtis having sent back his greetings
and thanks, we proceeded on our journey.
By midday we overtook the rear-guard of the great army of which
Allan Quatermain |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Exiles by Honore de Balzac: the strange expression of the two countenances before her. Referring
the terrors of this couple to the youth she was protecting--as was
natural in a lover--the young lady awaited, with some uneasiness, the
event thus heralded by the fears of her so-called master and mistress.
The old man paused for a moment on the threshold to scrutinize the
three persons in the room, and seemed to be looking for his young
companion. This glance of inquiry, unsuspicious as it was, agitated
the three. Indeed, nobody, not even the stoutest man, could deny that
Nature had bestowed exceptional powers on this being, who seemed
almost supernatural. Though his eyes were somewhat deeply shaded by
the wide sockets fringed with long eyebrows, they were set, like a
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