| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Betty Zane by Zane Grey: men, exceedingly active and as fleet as deer. In appearance they were
singularly pleasing and bore a marked resemblance to one another, all having
smooth faces, clear cut, regular features, dark eyes and long black hair.
When they were as yet boys they had been captured by Indians, soon after their
arrival on the Virginia border, and had been taken far into the interior, and
held as captives for two years. Ebenezer, Silas, and Jonathan Zane were then
taken to Detroit and ransomed. While attempting to swim the Scioto river in an
effort to escape, Andrew Zane had been shot and killed by his pursuers.
But the bonds that held Isaac Zane, the remaining and youngest brother, were
stronger than those of interest or revenge such as had caused the captivity of
his brothers. He was loved by an Indian princess, the daughter of Tarhe, the
Betty Zane |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: laugh, being possessed of several sets of independent
perceptions, had noted a sudden flatness of tone in Alida's
answering hilarity.
"Oh, Dorsetshire's full of ghosts, you know."
"Yes, yes; but that won't do. I don't want to have to drive ten
miles to see somebody else's ghost. I want one of my own on the
premises. IS there a ghost at Lyng?"
His rejoinder had made Alida laugh again, and it was then that
she had flung back tantalizingly: "Oh, there IS one, of course,
but you'll never know it."
"Never know it?" Boyne pulled her up. "But what in the world
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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 Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: by the Manchu lady. Many of the princesses could not read the
simplest book nor write a letter to a friend, but depended upon
educated eunuchs to perform these services for them. The Chinese
lady on the contrary can usually read and write with ease, and
the education of some of them is equal to that of a Hanlin.
Socially the ladies of these two classes never meet. Their
husbands may be of equal rank and well known to each other in
official life, but the ladies have no wish to meet each other.
One day while the granddaughter of one of the Chinese Grand
Secretaries was calling upon me, the sisters of Prince Ching and
Prince Su were announced. When they entered I introduced them.
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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 Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche: own, it has ocular evidence and palpableness of its own: this
operates fascinatingly, persuasively, and CONVINCINGLY upon an
age with fundamentally plebeian tastes--in fact, it follows
instinctively the canon of truth of eternal popular sensualism.
What is clear, what is "explained"? Only that which can be seen
and felt--one must pursue every problem thus far. Obversely,
however, the charm of the Platonic mode of thought, which was an
ARISTOCRATIC mode, consisted precisely in RESISTANCE to obvious
sense-evidence--perhaps among men who enjoyed even stronger and
more fastidious senses than our contemporaries, but who knew how
to find a higher triumph in remaining masters of them: and this
Beyond Good and Evil |
