| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Two Brothers by Honore de Balzac: was breakfasting with Joseph, the following terrible letter:--
My dear Mother,--A man does not marry a Mademoiselle Amelie de
Soulanges without the purse of Fortunatus, if under the name of
Comte de Brambourg he hides that of
Your son,
Philippe Bridau
As Agathe fell half-fainting on the sofa, the letter dropped to the
floor. The slight noise made by the paper, and the smothered but
dreadful exclamation which escaped Agathe startled Joseph, who had
forgotten his mother for a moment and was vehemently rubbing in a
sketch; he leaned his head round the edge of his canvas to see what
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Fantastic Fables by Ambrose Bierce: the umbrellas.
"Your Honour," said the defendant's attorney, when the case was
called, "I move that this astonishing action be dismissed. Not
only is my client in no way responsible for the loss, but he
distinctly foreshadowed the very thing that caused it."
"That is just it, your Honour," replied the counsel for the
plaintiff; "the defendant by making a correct forecast fooled my
client in the only way that he could do so. He has lied so much
and so notoriously that he has neither the legal nor moral right to
tell the truth."
Judgment for the plaintiff.
Fantastic Fables |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: "'But it's out, man! What's the use of talking like
this? You can see for yourself it's out--don't you? If
you had to take a valuable steamer along this God-for-
saken coast you would want a light too. I'll kick him
from end to end of his miserable wharf. You'll see if I
don't. I will--'
"'So I may tell my captain you'll take us?' I broke in.
"'Yes, I'll take you. Good night,' he said, brusquely.
"I pulled back, made fast again to the jetty, and then
went to sleep at last. I had faced the silence of the
East. I had heard some of its languages. But when I
Youth |
