| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Memorabilia by Xenophon: towards you?
Lamp. No, I do not think that.
Soc. Then this mother, who is kindly disposed to you, and takes such
tender care of you when you are ill to make you well again, and to see
that you want for nothing which may help you; and, more than all, who
is perpetually pleading for blessings in your behalf and offering her
vows to Heaven[5]--can you say of her that she is cross-grained and
harsh? For my part, I think, if you cannot away with such a mother,
you cannot away with such blessings either.
[5] Or, "paying vows."
But tell me (he proceeded), do you owe service to any living being,
The Memorabilia |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Peter Pan by James M. Barrie: but, on the other hand, sometimes she was all good. Fairies have
to be one thing or the other, because being so small they
unfortunately have room for one feeling only at a time. They
are, however, allowed to change, only it must be a complete
change. At present she was full of jealousy of Wendy. What she
said in her lovely tinkle Wendy could not of course understand,
and I believe some of it was bad words, but it sounded kind, and
she flew back and forward, plainly meaning "Follow me, and all
will be well."
What else could poor Wendy do? She called to Peter and John
and Michael, and got only mocking echoes in reply. She did not
Peter Pan |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from American Notes by Rudyard Kipling: spangled like a harlequin with scales, water from my waist down,
nose peeled by the sun, but utterly, supremely, and consummately
happy.
The beauty, the darling, the daisy, my Salmon Bahadur, weighed
twelve pounds, and I had been seven-and-thirty minutes bringing
him to bank! He had been lightly hooked on the angle of the right
jaw, and the hook had not wearied him. That hour I sat among
princes and crowned heads greater than them all. Below the bank
we heard California scuffling with his salmon and swearing
Spanish oaths. Portland and I assisted at the capture, and the
fish dragged the spring balance out by the roots. It was only
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