| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll: understand Doggee---that is, Dog-language. But, as you may find it a
little difficult, just at first, I had better put it into English for
you. "Humans, I verily believe! A couple of stray Humans!
What Dog do you belong to? What do you want?"
"We don't belong to a Dog!" Bruno began, in Doggee.
("Peoples never belongs to Dogs!" he whispered to Sylvie.)
But Sylvie hastily checked him, for fear of hurting the Mastiff's
feelings. "Please, we want a little food, and a night's lodging--if
there's room in the house," she added timidly. Sylvie spoke Doggee
very prettily: but I think it's almost better, for you, to give the
conversation in English.
Sylvie and Bruno |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: for perhaps they had not materials to break open our bulkheads, or
get in upon us.
The gunner had in the meantime orders to bring two guns, to bear
fore and aft, out of the steerage, to clear the deck, and load them
with musket-bullets, and small pieces of old iron, and what came
next to hand. Thus we made ready for fight; but all this while we
kept out to sea, with wind enough, and could see the boats at a
distance, being five large longboats, following us with all the
sail they could make.
Two of those boats (which by our glasses we could see were English)
outsailed the rest, were near two leagues ahead of them, and gained
Robinson Crusoe |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Some Reminiscences by Joseph Conrad: arrangements were being made for my departure for Marseilles,
where an excellent fellow called Solary, got at in a roundabout
fashion through various French channels, had promised good-
naturedly to put le jeune homme in the way of getting a decent
ship for his first start if he really wanted a taste of ce metier
de chien.
I watched all these preparations gratefully, and kept my own
counsel. But what I told the last of my examiners was perfectly
true. Already the determined resolve, that "if a seaman, then an
English seaman," was formulated in my head though, of course, in
the Polish language. I did not know six words of English, and I
Some Reminiscences |
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 From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne: 900 feet. At the bottom the masonry rested upon a massive block
measuring thirty feet in thickness, while on the upper portion
it was level with the surrounding soil.
President Barbicane and the members of the Gun Club warmly
congratulated their engineer Murchison; the cyclopean work had
been accomplished with extraordinary rapidity.
During these eight months Barbicane never quitted Stones Hill
for a single instant. Keeping ever close by the work of
excavation, he busied himself incessantly with the welfare
and health of his workpeople, and was singularly fortunate
in warding off the epidemics common to large communities of
From the Earth to the Moon |
