| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: thing, all silver-speckled and silver-streaked. The puncture of it is sharp
as an electric burn; and the mere hum of it has a lancinating quality of
tone which foretells the quality of the pain about to come,-- much in the
same way that a particular smell suggests a particular taste. I find that
this mosquito much resembles the creature which Dr. Howard calls Stegomyia
fasciata, or Culex fasciatus: and that its habits are the same as those of
the Stegomyia. For example, it is diurnal rather than nocturnal and becomes
most troublesome in the afternoon. And I have discovered that it comes from
the Buddhist cemetery,-- a very old cemetery,-- in the rear of my garden.
Dr. Howard's book declares that, in order to rid a neighborhood of
mosquitoes, it is only necessary to pour a little petroleum, or kerosene
Kwaidan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini: asking his consent, for the lodging, after all, was Trenchard's.
"I'll wait here," said Nick, and waved his hand towards an oak bench
that stood in the passage. "You had best make haste," he urged his
friend; "you are late already. That is, unless you are of a mind to set
the lady's affairs before King Monmouth's. And were I in your place,
Anthony, faith I'd not scruple to do it. For after all," he added under
his breath, "there's little choice in rotten apples."
Ruth waited for some answer from Wilding that might suggest he was
indifferent whether he went to Newlington's or not; but he spoke no
word as he turned to lead the way above-stairs to the indifferent
parlour which with the adjoining bedroom constituted Mr. Trenchard's
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Glaucus/The Wonders of the Shore by Charles Kingsley: may see crawling by its thousand sucking-feet in the Crystal Palace
tanks, a pentagonal webbed bird's foot, of scarlet and orange
shagreen. With him, most probably, will be a specimen of the great
purple heart-urchin (Spatangus purpureus), clothed in pale lilac
horny spines, and other Echinoderms, for which you must consult
Forbes's "British Star-fishes:" but perhaps the species among them
which will interest you most, will be the common brittle-star
(Ophiocoma rosula), of which a hundred or so, I can promise, shall
come up at a single haul of the dredge, entwining their long spine-
clad arms in a seemingly inextricable confusion of "kaleidoscope"
patterns (thanks to Mr. Gosse for the one right epithet), purple
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass: pate myself, and thereby run the hazard of closing
the slightest avenue by which a brother slave might
clear himself of the chains and fetters of slavery.
I have never approved of the very public manner
in which some of our western friends have conducted
what they call the ~underground railroad,~ but which
I think, by their open declarations, has been made
most emphatically the ~upperground railroad.~ I honor
those good men and women for their noble daring,
and applaud them for willingly subjecting them-
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave |
