| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honore de Balzac: lent her name. The honorable bankrupt overtaken by misfortune is then
master of the situation, and proceeds to legalize the theft he
premeditated. As a rule, the petty trades of Paris are guiltless in
this respect. When a shopkeeper gets as far as making an assignment,
the worthy man has usually sold his wife's shawl, pawned his plate,
left no stone unturned, and succumbs at last with empty hands, ruined,
and without enough money to pay his attorney, who in consequence cares
little for him.
The law requires that the /concordat/, at which is granted the
bankrupt's certificate that remits to the merchant a portion of his
debt, and restores to him the right of managing his affairs, shall be
Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Bunner Sisters by Edith Wharton: The doctor came again at nightfall, administering some last
palliatives; and after he had gone Ann Eliza, refusing to have her
vigil shared by Miss Mellins or Mrs. Hawkins, sat down to keep
watch alone.
It was a very quiet night. Evelina never spoke or opened her
eyes, but in the still hour before dawn Ann Eliza saw that the
restless hand outside the bed-clothes had stopped its twitching.
She stooped over and felt no breath on her sister's lips.
The funeral took place three days later. Evelina was buried
in Calvary Cemetery, the priest assuming the whole care of the
necessary arrangements, while Ann Eliza, a passive spectator,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Under the Andes by Rex Stout: you care to use it. Myself, I know.
Another half-hour and we reached the end of the lane by which
we had first entered the cavern. We stood gazing at it with eyes
of desire, but we knew how little chance there was of the thing
being unguarded at the farther end. We knew then, of course, and
only too well, why the Incas had not followed us into the cavern.
"Perhaps they are gone," said Harry. "They can't stay there
forever. I'm going to find out."
He sprang on the edge of a boulder at the mouth of the passage
and disappeared on the other side. In fifteen minutes he returned,
and I saw by the expression on his face that there was no chance of
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