| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Treatise on Parents and Children by George Bernard Shaw: thing the child's conscience into an instrument of our own
convenience, and to use that wonderful and terrible power called Shame
to grind our own axe. It is the sin of stealing fire from the altar:
a sin so impudently practised by popes, parents, and pedagogues, that
one can hardly expect the nurserymaids to see any harm in stealing a
few cinders when they are worrited.
Into the blackest depths of this violation of children's souls one can
hardly bear to look; for here we find pious fraud masking the
violation of the body by obscene cruelty. Any parent or school
teacher who takes a secret and abominable delight in torture is
allowed to lay traps into which every child must fall, and then beat
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: merit, which would look aspiringly upward. Without disputing a
truth so momentous, we must be allowed to consider this version
of Mr. Dimmesdale's story as only an instance of that stubborn
fidelity with which a man's friends -- and especially a
clergyman's -- will sometimes uphold his character, when proofs,
clear as the mid-day sunshine on the scarlet letter, establish
him a false and sin-stained creature of the dust.
The authority which we have chiefly followed -- a manuscript of
old date, drawn up from the verbal testimony of individuals, some
of whom had known Hester Prynne, while others had heard the tale
The Scarlet Letter |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar: ladies in their carriages. He exchanged a hearty salutation with
the saloon-keeper at the corner, then, tenderly carrying his
violin case, he trudged down Bourbon Street, a little old, bent,
withered figure, with shoulders shrugged up to keep warm, as
though the faded brown overcoat were not thick enough.
Down on Bayou Road, not so far from Claiborne Street, was a
house, little and old and queer, but quite large enough to hold
M'sieu Fortier, a wrinkled dame, and a white cat. He was home
but little, for on nearly every day there were rehearsals; then
on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights, and twice Sundays
there were performances, so Ma'am Jeanne and the white cat kept
The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories |
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 Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: "And now, my dear father," she said, "permit me to claim the
promise you so kindly gave; let the last moments of freedom which
I am to enjoy be mine without interruption; and protract to the
last moment the respite which is allowed me."
"I will," said her father; "nor shall you be again interrupted.
But this disordered dress--this dishevelled hair--do not let me
find you thus when I call on you again; the sacrifice, to be
beneficial, must be voluntary."
"Must it be so?" she replied; "then fear not, my father! the
victim shall be adorned."
CHAPTER XVII.
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