| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott: On through the fragrant air went Thistle, looking with glad face
upon the fair, fresh earth below, where flowers looked smiling up,
and green trees bowed their graceful heads as if to welcome him. Soon
the forest where Lily-Bell lay sleeping rose before him, and as he
passed along the cool, dim wood-paths, never had they seemed so fair.
But when he came where his little friend had slept, it was no longer
the dark, silent spot where he last saw her. Garlands hung from every
tree, and the fairest flowers filled the air with their sweet breath.
Bird's gay voices echoed far and wide, and the little brook went
singing by, beneath the arching ferns that bent above it; green
leaves rustled in the summer wind, and the air was full of music.
Flower Fables |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: him. 'The horse will move when he has someone on his back.
As for him,' he thought of Nikita--'it's all the same to him
whether he lives or dies. What is his life worth? He won't
grudge his life, but I have something to live for, thank God.'
He untied the horse, threw the reins over his neck and tried to
mount, but his coats and boots were so heavy that he failed.
Then he clambered up in the sledge and tried to mount from
there, but the sledge tilted under his weight, and he failed
again. At last he drew Mukhorty nearer to the sledge,
cautiously balanced on one side of it, and managed to lie on
his stomach across the horse's back. After lying like that for
Master and Man |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: horse will at one time humour you in one way and again in
another." Cf. viii. 13, x. 12, for {uperetein} of the horse.
VII
The master, let us suppose, has received his horse and is ready to
mount.[1] We will now prescribe certain rules to be observed in the
interests not only of the horseman but of the animal which he
bestrides. First, then, he should take the leading rein, which hangs
from the chin-strap or nose-band,[2] conveniently in his left hand,
held slack so as not to jerk the horse's mouth, whether he means to
mount by hoisting himself up, catching hold of the mane behind the
ears, or to vault on to horseback by help of his spear. With the right
On Horsemanship |
