| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Chance by Joseph Conrad: greedy of memorable impressions. But as I looked at him, the desire
of laughter at my very lips, I asked myself: how many men could be
found ready to compromise their cherished gravity for the sake of
the unimportant child of a ruined financier with an ugly, black
cloud already wreathing his head. I didn't laugh at little Fyne. I
encouraged him: "You did!--very good . . . Well?"
His main thought was to save the child from some unpleasant
interference. There was a porter downstairs, page boys; some people
going away with their trunks in the passage; a railway omnibus at
the door, white-breasted waiters dodging about the entrance.
He was in time. He was at the door before she reached it in her
Chance |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Hellenica by Xenophon: himself. With this answer the ambassadors returned to Athens, and were
forthwith sent on to Lacedaemon. On reaching Sellasia,[6] a town in[7]
Laconian territory, they waited till they got their answer from the
ephors, who, having learnt their terms (which were identical to those
already proposed to Agis), bade them instantly to be gone, and, if
they really desired peace, to come with other proposals, the fruit of
happier reflection. Thus the ambassadors returned home, and reported
the result of their embassage, whereupon despondency fell upon all. It
was a painful reflection that in the end they would be sold into
slavery; and meanwhile, pending the return of a second embassy, many
must needs fall victims to starvation. The razing of their
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Land that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: "and then we'll all go ashore and get our V. C.'s," he
concluded, laughing.
"How you goin' to run her?" queried Olson. "You can't trust
these Dutchmen."
Bradley scratched his head. "I guess you're right," he admitted.
"And I don't know the first thing about a sub."
"I do," I assured him. "I know more about this particular sub
than the officer who commanded her."
Both men looked at me in astonishment, and then I had to explain
all over again as I had explained to the girl. Bradley and Olson
were delighted. Immediately I was put in command, and the first
The Land that Time Forgot |
