| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Madame Firmiani by Honore de Balzac: dresses well, has taste; gives other women sleepless nights. Your
informant belongs to the genus Spiteful.
An Attache to an embassy: "Madame Firmiani? Isn't she from Antwerp? I
saw her ten years ago in Rome; she was very handsome then."
Individuals of the species Attache have a mania for talking in the
style of Talleyrand. Their wit is often so refined that the point is
imperceptible; they are like billiard-players who avoid hitting the
ball with consummate dexterity. These individuals are usually
taciturn, and when they talk it is only about Spain, Vienna, Italy, or
Petersburg. Names of countries act like springs in their mind; press
them, and the ringing of their changes begins.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft: of the night-gaunts had left the galley the ghoulish leaders glibbered
an order of withdrawal, and the rowers pulled quietly out of the
harbour between the grey headlands while still the town was a
chaos of battle and conquest.
The Pickman ghoul allowed several
hours for the night-gaunts to make up their rudimentary minds
and overcome their fear of flying over the sea, and kept the galley
standing about a mile off the jagged rock while he waited, and
dressed the wounds of the injured men. Night fell, and the grey
twilight gave place to the sickly phosphorescence of low clouds,
and all the while the leaders watched the high peaks of that accursed
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving: an apparent advantage in the chase, but just as he had got half
way through the hollow, the girths of the saddle gave way, and he
felt it slipping from under him. He seized it by the pommel, and
endeavored to hold it firm, but in vain; and had just time to
save himself by clasping old Gunpowder round the neck, when the
saddle fell to the earth, and he heard it trampled under foot by
his pursuer. For a moment the terror of Hans Van Ripper's wrath
passed across his mind, --for it was his Sunday saddle; but this
was no time for petty fears; the goblin was hard on his haunches;
and (unskilful rider that he was!) he had much ado to maintain
his seat; sometimes slipping on one side, sometimes on another,
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow |
