| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Virginian by Owen Wister: "And," said Mrs. Henry, "he would never have left you if I had
had my way, Judge H.!"
"No, Madam Judge," retorted her husband; "I am aware of that. For
you have always appreciated a fine appearance in a man."
"I certainly have," confessed the lady, mirthfully. "And the way
he used to come bringing my horse, with the ridges of his black
hair so carefully brushed and that blue spotted handkerchief tied
so effectively round his throat, was something that I missed a
great deal after he went away."
"Thank you, my dear, for this warning. I have plans that will
keep him absent quite constantly for the future."
The Virginian |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: by the slightest division! Afterwards you dismiss the whole of them
with their women and children, without keeping a single hostage! Did
you expect that they would murder themselves to spare you the pain of
keeping your oaths? You hate them because they are strong! You hate me
still more, who am their master! Oh! I felt it just now when you were
kissing my hands and were all putting a constraint upon yourselves not
to bite them!"
If the lions that were sleeping in the court had come howling in, the
uproar could not have been more frightful. But the pontiff of Eschmoun
rose, and, standing perfectly upright, with his knees close together,
his elbows pressed to his body, and his hands half open, he said:
Salammbo |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Duchesse de Langeais by Honore de Balzac: have to say."
"I am listening."
"Mme la Duchesse," began the Duc de Grandlieu, "if it were any
part of an uncle's duty to look after his nieces, he ought to
have a position; society would owe him honours and rewards and a
salary, exactly as if he were in the King's service. So I am not
here to talk about my nephew, but of your own interests. Let us
look ahead a little. If you persist in making a scandal--I have
seen the animal before, and I own that I have no great liking for
him--Langeais is stingy enough, and he does not care a rap for
anyone but himself; he will have a separation; he will stick to
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