| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: watercourse, as he and Herbert had done on their first excursion, for after
walking an hour not a creature had shown itself. Top, running under the
branches, only roused birds which could not be approached. Even the
couroucous were invisible, and it was probable that the sailor would be
obliged to return to the marshy part of the forest, in which he had so
happily performed his grouse fishing.
"Well, Pencroft," said Neb, in a slightly sarcastic tone, "if this is all
the game which you promised to bring back to my master, it won't need a
large fire to roast it!"
"Have patience," replied the sailor, "it isn't the game which will be
wanting on our return."
The Mysterious Island |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas: A door hidden in the tapestry opened noiselessly and a man
in black silently advanced and stood behind the chair on
which Mazarin sat.
"Bernouin," said the cardinal, not turning round, for having
whistled, he knew that it was his valet-de-chambre who was
behind him; "what musketeers are now within the palace?"
"The Black Musketeers, my lord."
"What company?"
"Treville's company."
"Is there any officer belonging to this company in the
ante-chamber?"
Twenty Years After |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: nothing; but in a few minutes we saw a very great light, and found
that there was some very terrible fire at a distance; immediately
we had recourse to our reckonings, in which we all agreed that
there could be no land that way in which the fire showed itself,
no, not for five hundred leagues, for it appeared at WNW. Upon
this, we concluded it must be some ship on fire at sea; and as, by
our hearing the noise of guns just before, we concluded that it
could not be far off, we stood directly towards it, and were
presently satisfied we should discover it, because the further we
sailed, the greater the light appeared; though, the weather being
hazy, we could not perceive anything but the light for a while. In
Robinson Crusoe |
