| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: her, and she made us all lie down in order, and cast a skin
over each. There would our ambush have been most terrible,
for the deadly stench of the sea bred seals distressed us
sore: nay, who would lay him down by a beast of the sea?
But herself she wrought deliverance, and devised a great
comfort. She took ambrosia of a very sweet savour, and set
it beneath each man's nostril, and did away with the stench
of the beast. So all the morning we waited with steadfast
heart, and the seals came forth in troops from the brine,
and then they couched them all orderly by the sea-beach.
And at high day the ancient one came forth from out of the
The Odyssey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Reminiscences of Tolstoy by Leo Tolstoy: cheap Bashkir lands in the district of Buzulúk, and we
went to stay on our new property at a khutor, or farm.
In Samara we lived on the farm in a tumble-down wooden
house, and beside us, in the steppe, were erected two felt
kibitkas, or Tatar frame tents, in which [illustration
omitted] [page intentionally blank] our Bashkir, Muhammed
Shah Romanytch, lived with his wives.
Morning and evening they used to tie the mares up outside
the kibitkas, where they were milked by veiled women, who
then hid themselves from the sight of the men behind a brilliant
chintz curtain, and made the kumiss.
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Amy Foster by Joseph Conrad: Foster) he took off his hat to the father and de-
clared himself humbly. 'I daresay she's fool
enough to marry you,' was all Foster said. 'And
then,' he used to relate, 'he puts his hat on his head,
looks black at me as if he wanted to cut my throat,
whistles the dog, and off he goes, leaving me to do
the work.' The Fosters, of course, didn't like to
lose the wages the girl earned: Amy used to give all
her money to her mother. But there was in Foster
a very genuine aversion to that match. He con-
tended that the fellow was very good with sheep,
Amy Foster |
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 Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle: Earl of Huntingdon; so Robin followed the King to the wars, and found
his time so full that he had no chance to come back to Sherwood for even
so much as a day. As for Allan a Dale and his wife, the fair Ellen,
they followed Robin Hood and shared in all his ups and downs of life.
And now, dear friend, you who have journeyed with me in all
these merry doings, I will not bid you follow me further,
but will drop your hand here with a "good den," if you wish it;
for that which cometh hereafter speaks of the breaking up
of things, and shows how joys and pleasures that are dead
and gone can never be set upon their feet to walk again.
I will not dwell upon the matter overlong, but will tell
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood |
