| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: eyes.
"Mother," said she, "what does the scarlet letter mean?"
And the next morning, the first indication the child gave of
being awake was by popping up her head from the pillow, and
making that other enquiry, which she had so unaccountably
connected with her investigations about the scarlet letter --
"Mother! Mother Why does the minister keep his hand over his
heart?"
The Scarlet Letter |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Symposium by Xenophon: A feast, upon my word, O princeliest entertainer![2] Was it not enough
to set before your guests a faultless dinner, but you must feast our
eyes and ears on sights and sounds the most delicious?
[2] Lit. "in consummate style."
To which the host: And that reminds me, a supply of unguents might not
be amiss;[3] what say you? Shall we feast on perfumes also?[4]
[3] Lit. "suppose I tell the servant to bring in some perfumes, so
that we may further feast on fragrance . . ." Cf. Theophr. "Char."
vii. 6 (Jebb ad loc.)
[4] See Athen. xv. 686.
No, I protest (the other answered). Scents resemble clothes. One dress
The Symposium |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: the courts, cascades on the staircases, and eddies at the corners of
the streets. It poured in warm heavy masses and urgent streams; big
frothy jets leaped from the corners of all the buildings; and it
seemed as though whitish cloths hung dimly upon the walls, and the
washed temple-roofs shone black in the gleam of the lightning.
Torrents descended from the Acropolis by a thousand paths; houses
suddenly gave way, and small beams, plaster, rubbish, and furniture
passed along in streams which ran impetuously over the pavement.
Amphoras, flagons, and canvases had been placed out of doors; but the
torches were extinguished; brands were taken from the funeral-pile of
the Baal, and the Carthaginians bent back their necks and opened their
Salammbo |
