| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The King of the Golden River by John Ruskin: jammed in the window, with its mouth and eyes very wide open indeed.
"Hollo!" said the little gentleman; "that's not the way to
answer the door. I'm wet; let me in."
To do the little gentleman justice, he WAS wet. His feather
hung down between his legs like a beaten puppy's tail, dripping
like an umbrella, and from the ends of his mustaches the water was
running into his waistcoat pockets and out again like a mill
stream.
"I beg pardon, sir," said Gluck, "I'm very sorry, but, I
really can't."
"Can't what?" said the old gentleman.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A Straight Deal by Owen Wister: their book to our advantage. But I am not theorizing, I am not seeking to
show that we manage life better or that they manage life better; the only
moral that I seek to draw from these anecdotes is, that we should each
understand and hence make allowance for the other fellow's way. You will
admit, I am sure, be you American or English, that everybody has a right
to his own way? The proverb "When in Rome you must do as Rome does"
covers it, and would save trouble if we always obeyed it. The people who
forget it most are they that go to Rome for the first time; and I shall
give you both English and American examples of this presently. It is good
to ascertain before you go to Rome, if you can, what Rome does do.
Have you never been mistaken for a waiter, or something of that sort?
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare: Moone. This Lanthorne doth the horned Moone present
De. He should haue worne the hornes on his head
Du. Hee is no crescent, and his hornes are inuisible,
within the circumference
Moon. This lanthorne doth the horned Moone present:
My selfe, the man i'th Moone doth seeme to be
Du. This is the greatest error of all the rest; the man
Should be put into the Lanthorne. How is it els the man
i'th Moone?
Dem. He dares not come there for the candle.
For you see, it is already in snuffe
A Midsummer Night's Dream |
