| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Polity of Athenians and Lacedaemonians by Xenophon: of some measure, or put it to the vote, and to maintain to the rest of
the world, "I was not present, nor do I approve of the terms of the
agreement." Inquiries are made in a full meeting of the People, and
should any of these things be disapproved of, it can at once discover
ten thousand excuses to avoid doing whatever they do not wish. And if
any mischief should spring out of any resolutions which the People has
passed in council, the People can readily shift the blame from its own
shoulders. "A handful of oligarchs[22] acting against the interests of
the People have ruined us." But if any good result ensue, they, the
People, at once take the credit of that to themselves.
[21] Reading {uph otououn adikeitai onomati upo ton oligon}, which I
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Perfect Wagnerite: A Commentary on the Niblung's Ring by George Bernard Shaw: second scene of The Rhine Gold, also cannot be mistaken. It, too,
has a memorable rhythm; and its majestic harmonies, far from
presenting those novel or curious problems in polyphony of which
Wagner still stands suspected by superstitious people, are just
those three simple chords which festive students who vamp
accompaniments to comic songs "by ear" soon find sufficient for
nearly all the popular tunes in the world.
On the other hand, the ring theme, when it begins to hurtle
through the third scene of The Rhine Gold, cannot possibly be
referred to any special feature in the general gloom and turmoil
of the den of the dwarfs. It is not a melody, but merely the
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Two Brothers by Honore de Balzac: not to speak of the happiness you will give
Your mother,
Agathe Bridau, nee Rouget
Two days later the concierge brought to the atelier, where poor Agathe
was breakfasting with Joseph, the following terrible letter:--
My dear Mother,--A man does not marry a Mademoiselle Amelie de
Soulanges without the purse of Fortunatus, if under the name of
Comte de Brambourg he hides that of
Your son,
Philippe Bridau
As Agathe fell half-fainting on the sofa, the letter dropped to the
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