| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Start in Life by Honore de Balzac: years,--the old man being perfectly contented with it. He spent in all
not more than three thousand francs a year there; for he dined in
Paris five days in the week, and returned home at midnight in a
hackney-coach, which belonged to an establishment at Courtille. The
cook had only her master's breakfast to provide on those days. This
was served at eleven o'clock; after that he dressed and perfumed
himself, and departed for Paris. Usually, a bourgeois gives notice in
the household if he dines out; old Cardot, on the contrary, gave
notice when he dined at home.
This little old man--fat, rosy, squat, and strong--always looked, in
popular speech, as if he had stepped from a bandbox. He appeared in
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Don Quixote by Miquel de Cervantes: remission.' Though the law and its severe penalty were known, many
persons crossed, but in their declarations it was easy to see at
once they were telling the truth, and the judges let them pass free.
It happened, however, that one man, when they came to take his
declaration, swore and said that by the oath he took he was going to
die upon that gallows that stood there, and nothing else. The judges
held a consultation over the oath, and they said, 'If we let this
man pass free he has sworn falsely, and by the law he ought to die;
but if we hang him, as he swore he was going to die on that gallows,
and therefore swore the truth, by the same law he ought to go free.'
It is asked of your worship, senor governor, what are the judges to do
Don Quixote |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard: picked out of the water, for whom her companion was waiting.
Before she went away she kissed my hand, I suppose as a token
of gratitude for having saved her from the fury of the hippopotamus;
and it seemed to me that she had by this time quite got over
any fear she might have had of us, and was by no means anxious
to return in such a hurry to her lawful owners. At any rate,
she was going to kiss Good's hand as well as mine, when the young
man interfered and led her off. As soon as we were on shore,
a number of the men who had rowed the big boat took possession
of our few goods and chattels, and started with them up the splendid
staircase, our guide indicating to us by means of motions that
Allan Quatermain |
