| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Herodias by Gustave Flaubert: The mountain paths began to show signs of life. Shepherds were driving
their flocks to pasture; children urged heavy-laden donkeys along the
roads; while grooms belonging to the palace led the horses to the
river to drink. The wayfarers descending from the heights on the
farther side of Machaerus disappeared behind the castle; others
ascended from the valleys, and after arriving at the palace deposited
their burdens in the courtyard. Many of these were purveyors to the
tetrarch; others were the servants of his expected guests, arriving in
advance of their masters.
Suddenly, at the foot of the terrace on the left, an Essene appeared;
he wore a white robe, his feet were bare, and his demeanour indicated
Herodias |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Bunner Sisters by Edith Wharton: another long gastronomic ceremony must intervene before politeness
permitted them to leave. At length, however, they found themselves
again on the ferry-boat. Water and sky were grey, with a dividing
gleam of sunset that sent sleek opal waves in the boat's wake. The
wind had a cool tarry breath, as though it had travelled over miles
of shipping, and the hiss of the water about the paddles was as
delicious as though it had been splashed into their tired faces.
Ann Eliza sat apart, looking away from the others. She had
made up her mind that Mr. Ramy had proposed to Evelina in the wood,
and she was silently preparing herself to receive her sister's
confidence that evening.
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Padre Ignacio by Owen Wister: monastic herbs, the jasmines and the oleanders to the sacristy. "At
least," he said, "if we cannot carry with us into exile the friends and
the places we have loved, music will go whither we go, even to an end of
the world such as this.--Felipe!" he called to his organist. "Can they
sing the music I taught them for the Dixit Dominus to-night?"
"Yes, father, surely."
"Then we will have that. And, Felipe--" The Padre crossed the chancel to
the small, shabby organ. "Rise, my child, and listen. Here is something
you can learn. Why, see now if you cannot learn it from a single
hearing."
The swarthy boy of sixteen stood watching his master's fingers, delicate
|
