| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Talisman by Walter Scott: which has ever characterized their nation, for the defence of
their independence, by the most violent means, under the most
disadvantageous circumstances, and at the most extreme hazard.
As yet, wars betwixt the two nations, though fierce and frequent,
had been conducted on principles of fair hostility, and admitted
of those softening shades by which courtesy and the respect for
open and generous foemen qualify and mitigate the horrors of war.
In time of peace, therefore, and especially when both, as at
present, were engaged in war, waged in behalf of a common cause,
and rendered dear to them by their ideas of religion, the
adventurers of both countries frequently fought side by side,
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Polly of the Circus by Margaret Mayo: service when Mandy peeped into the spare bedroom for the second
time, and glanced cautiously at the wisp of hair that bespoke a
feminine head somewhere between the covers and the little white
pillow on the four- poster bed. There was no sound from the
sleeper, so Mandy ventured across the room on tiptoe and raised
the shades. The drooping boughs of Autumn foliage lay shimmering
against the window panes, and through them might be seen the grey
outline of the church. Mandy glanced again toward the bed to
make sure that the burst of sunlight had not wakened the invalid,
then crossed to a small, rickety chair, laden with the discarded
finery of the little circus rider.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honore de Balzac: small parcels. But it takes too long to explain all this to you. The
ground once paid for, we have only to cross our arms and in three
years we shall be rich by a million. Cesarine will then be twenty, our
business will be sold, and we shall step, by the grace of God,
modestly to eminence."
"Where will you get your three hundred thousand francs?" said Madame
Birotteau.
"You don't understand business, my beloved little cat. I shall take
the hundred thousand francs which are now with Roguin; I shall borrow
forty thousand on the buildings and gardens where we now have our
manufactory in the Faubourg du Temple; we have twenty thousand francs
Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau |
