| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: It was piled high with cushions covered with rose-colored silk, and from a
golden railing above hung many folds of pink gossamer, completely concealing
the interior of the couch.
The first act of the Witch was to make the boy drink a potion which quickly
sent him into a deep and dreamless sleep. Then the Tin Woodman and the
Woggle-Bug bore him gently to the couch, placed him upon the soft cushions,
and drew the gossamer hangings to shut him from all earthly view.
The Witch squatted upon the ground and kindled a tiny fire of dried herbs,
which she drew from her bosom. When the blaze shot up and burned clearly old
Mombi scattered a handful of magical powder over the fire, which straightway
gave off a rich violet vapor, filling all the tent with its fragrance and
The Marvelous Land of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Laches by Plato: first attempt at education, there is a danger that you may be trying the
experiment, not on the 'vile corpus' of a Carian slave, but on your own
sons, or the sons of your friend, and, as the proverb says, 'break the
large vessel in learning to make pots.' Tell us then, what qualities you
claim or do not claim. Make them tell you that, Lysimachus, and do not let
them off.
LYSIMACHUS: I very much approve of the words of Socrates, my friends; but
you, Nicias and Laches, must determine whether you will be questioned, and
give an explanation about matters of this sort. Assuredly, I and Melesias
would be greatly pleased to hear you answer the questions which Socrates
asks, if you will: for I began by saying that we took you into our
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad: She gave a slight start and without looking at me again glided out
of the room, the many folds of her brown skirt remaining
undisturbed as she moved.
I looked at my watch; it was ten o'clock. Therese had been late
with my coffee. The delay was clearly caused by the unexpected
arrival of Mr. Blunt's mother, which might or might not have been
expected by her son. The existence of those Blunts made me feel
uncomfortable in a peculiar way as though they had been the
denizens of another planet with a subtly different point of view
and something in the intelligence which was bound to remain unknown
to me. It caused in me a feeling of inferiority which I intensely
The Arrow of Gold |
