| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Eve and David by Honore de Balzac: failure of the attempt. Father and son parted in anger.
David and Kolb reached Angouleme on the stroke of midnight. They came
back on foot, and steathily, like burglars. Before one o'clock in the
morning David was installed in the impenetrable hiding-place prepared
by his wife in Basine Clerget's house. No one saw him enter it, and
the pity that henceforth should shelter David was the most resourceful
pity of all--the pity of a work-girl.
Kolb bragged that day that he had saved his master on horseback, and
only left him in a carrier's van well on the way to Limoges. A
sufficient provision of raw material had been laid up in Basine's
cellar, and Kolb, Marion, Mme. Sechard, and her mother had no
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: dress steals by--a dress that moves and speaks. Half-open doors
suddenly shout with laughter. Words fall on the ear such as Rabelais
speaks of as frozen and melting. Snatches of songs come up from the
pavement. The noise is not vague; it means something. When it is
hoarse it is a voice; but if it suggests a song, there is nothing
human about it, it is more like a croak. Often you hear a sharp
whistle, and then the tap of boot-heels has a peculiarly aggressive
and mocking ring. This medley of things makes you giddy. Atmospheric
conditions are reversed there--it is warm in winter and cool in
summer.
Still, whatever the weather, this strange world always wears the same
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Aeneid by Virgil: Then, on to-morrow's dawn, your care employ,
To search the land, and where the cities lie,
And what the men; but give this day to joy.
Now pour to Jove; and, after Jove is blest,
Call great Anchises to the genial feast:
Crown high the goblets with a cheerful draught;
Enjoy the present hour; adjourn the future thought."
Thus having said, the hero bound his brows
With leafy branches, then perform'd his vows;
Adoring first the genius of the place,
Then Earth, the mother of the heav'nly race,
Aeneid |
