| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: 'You have kept your secret; how glad that makes me! Never tell a lie;
never fail to keep your word--those are two principles which should
never be forgotten.'
" 'Oh! mamma, how beautiful you are! YOU have never told a lie, I am
quite sure.'
" 'Once or twice, Ernest dear, I have lied. Yes, and I have not kept
my word under circumstances which speak louder than all precepts.
Listen, my Ernest, you are big enough and intelligent enough to see
that your father drives me away, and will not allow me to nurse him,
and this is not natural, for you know how much I love him.'
" 'Yes, mamma.'
 Gobseck |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy: Grace's disposition to make the best of everything, and to wink at
deficiencies in Winterborne's menage, was so uniform and
persistent that he suspected her of seeing even more deficiencies
than he was aware of. That suppressed sympathy which had showed
in her face ever since her arrival told him as much too plainly.
"This muddling style of house-keeping is what you've not lately
been used to, I suppose?" he said, when they were a little apart.
"No; but I like it; it reminds me so pleasantly that everything
here in dear old Hintock is just as it used to be. The oil is--
not quite nice; but everything else is."
"The oil?"
 The Woodlanders |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: whether he has fooled me as wickedly as I fooled him."
18
So she set down her basket and began fumbling in it for one of the precious
powders she had obtained.
While Mombi was thus occupied Tip strolled back, with his pockets full of
nuts, and discovered the old woman standing beside his man and apparently
not the least bit frightened by it.
At first he was generally disappointed; but the next moment he became
curious to know what Mombi was going to do. So he hid behind a hedge, where
he could see without being seen, and prepared to watch.
After some search the woman drew from her basket an old pepper-box, upon the
 The Marvelous Land of Oz |