| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Summer by Edith Wharton: a dim understanding of her guardian's needs; but she
knew he felt himself above the people among whom he
lived, and she saw that Lucius Harney thought him so.
She was surprised to find how well he seemed to talk
now that he had a listener who understood him; and she
was equally struck by young Harney's friendly
deference.
Their conversation was mostly about politics, and
beyond her range; but tonight it had a peculiar
interest for her, for they had begun to speak of the
Mountain. She drew back a little, lest they should see
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: to wander from his men, and to fall to gazing at, say, a red-billed,
red-legged heron which, after strutting along the bank of a stream,
would have caught a fish in its beak, and be holding it awhile, as
though in doubt whether to swallow it. Next he would glance towards
the spot where a similar bird, but one not yet in possession of a
fish, was engaged in watching the doings of its mate. Lastly, with
eyebrows knitted, and face turned to scan the zenith, he would drink
in the smell of the fields, and fall to listening to the winged
population of the air as from earth and sky alike the manifold music
of winged creatures combined in a single harmonious chorus. In the rye
the quail would be calling, and, in the grass, the corncrake, and over
Dead Souls |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: our flight terminating in a swift dive to the ground.
As the sun rose and the light of a new day swept away
the darkness of night our craft gave a final spasmodic plunge,
turned half upon her side, and then with deck tilting
at a sickening angle swung in a slow circle, her bow dropping
further below her stern each moment.
To hand-rail and stanchion we clung, and finally as we
saw the end approaching, snapped the buckles of our harness
to the rings at her sides. In another moment the deck
reared at an angle of ninety degrees and we hung in our
leather with feet dangling a thousand yards above the ground.
The Gods of Mars |
