| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Eve and David by Honore de Balzac: could only hold out a hand to his father; he did not say a word.
"And how, pray, do I come to owe you seven hundred francs?" the old
man asked, looking at Petit-Claud.
"Why, in the first place, I am engaged by you. Your rent is in
question; so, as far as I am concerned, you and our debtor are one and
the same person. If your son does not pay my costs in the case, you
must pay them yourself.--But this is nothing. In a few hours David
will be put in prison; will you allow him to go?"
"What does he owe?"
"Something like five or six thousand francs, besides the amounts owing
to you and to his wife."
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: That done, I returned to the salon, where my visitor still remained.
"You must excuse me, monsieur," I said to him, "for leaving you so
abruptly. I must hasten to the Henri IV. College. I could not possibly
pass a night in the dreadful anxiety my son's letter has caused me; he
tells me he has been ill since morning in the infirmary."
"But," replied Monsieur Dorlange, "surely you are not going alone in a
hired carriage to that lonely quarter?"
"Lucas will go with me."
At that moment Lucas returned; his prediction was realized; there was
not a coach on the stand; it was raining in torrents. Time was
passing; already it was almost too late to enter the school, where
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Edingburgh Picturesque Notes by Robert Louis Stevenson: stream goes by, east and west, and leaves the Parliament
Close to Charles the Second and the birds. Once in a
while, a patient crowd may be seen loitering there all
day, some eating fruit, some reading a newspaper; and to
judge by their quiet demeanour, you would think they were
waiting for a distribution of soup-tickets. The fact is
far otherwise; within in the Justiciary Court a man is
upon trial for his life, and these are some of the
curious for whom the gallery was found too narrow.
Towards afternoon, if the prisoner is unpopular, there
will be a round of hisses when he is brought forth. Once
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