| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: Meanwhile Chichikov knew nothing of these events; for, having
contracted a slight chill, coupled with a sore throat, he had decided
to keep his room for three days; during which time he gargled his
throat with milk and fig juice, consumed the fruit from which the
juice had been extracted, and wore around his neck a poultice of
camomile and camphor. Also, to while away the hours, he made new and
more detailed lists of the souls which he had bought, perused a work
by the Duchesse de la Valliere[2], rummaged in his portmanteau, looked
through various articles and papers which he discovered in his
dispatch-box, and found every one of these occupations tedious. Nor
could he understand why none of his official friends had come to see
Dead Souls |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Albert Savarus by Honore de Balzac: the learning and energy of every scientific student in the districts
of le Bugey, la Bresse, and Franche Comte. By the influence of
commercial interests and common feeling, five hundred subscribers were
booked in consideration of the low price; the /Review/ cost eight
francs a quarter.
To avoid hurting the conceit of the provincials by refusing their
articles, the lawyer hit on the good idea of suggesting a desire for
the literary management of this /Review/ to Monsieur Boucher's eldest
son, a young man of two-and-twenty, very eager for fame, to whom the
snares and woes of literary responsibilities were utterly unknown.
Albert quietly kept the upper hand and made Alfred Boucher his devoted
Albert Savarus |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: Now Sullens got into trouble; no matter how; the regulations of
the place were broken, and he was punished accordingly--without
effect. So, the next day, and the next, and the day after, till I
began to be weary of the business, and Sullens (I am
afraid) particularly so. There came a day when he was in fault
again, for the--oh, perhaps the thirtieth time; and he rolled a
dull eye upon me, with a spark in it, and appeared to speak.
Now the regulations of the place are formal upon one point: we
allow no explanations; none are received, none allowed to be
offered. So one stopped him instantly; but made a note of the
circumstance. The next day, he was gone from the settlement.
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