| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Nana, Miller's Daughter, Captain Burle, Death of Olivier Becaille by Emile Zola: Why, yesterday she had again come on too late! But there was a
silence, for a tall damsel had just craned her head in at the door
and, seeing that she had made a mistake, had departed to the other
end of the passage. It was Satin. Wearing a hat and a small veil
for the nonce she was affecting the manner of a lady about to pay a
call.
"A pretty trollop!" muttered Prulliere, who had been coming across
her for a year past at the Cafe des Varietes. And at this Simonne
told them how Nana had recognized in Satin an old schoolmate, had
taken a vast fancy to her and was now plaguing Bordenave to let her
make a first appearance on the stage.
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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 Pool in the Desert by Sara Jeanette Duncan: quenching her impatience in tea.
Chapter 2.IV.
The very next morning I met Armour on my way to the office. He was
ambling along on the leanest and most ill-groomed of bazaar ponies,
and he wore a bowler. In Simla sun hats are admissible, straw hats
are presentable, and soft felt hats are superior, but you must not
wear a bowler. I might almost say that if one's glance falls upon a
bowler, one hardly looks further; the expectation of finding an
acquaintance under it is so vain. In this instance, I did look
further, fortunately, though in doing so I was compelled to notice
that the bowler was not lifted in answer to my salutation. Of no
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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 The Psychology of Revolution by Gustave le Bon: sentiments under the influence of a constant exciting cause.
Perhaps, however, one may say that if the laws of psychology are
comparable to those of mechanics, a cause of invariable
dimensions acting in a continuous fashion will rapidly increase
the intensity of a sentiment. We know, for example, that a force
which is constant in dimension and direction, such as gravity
acting upon a mass, will cause an accelerated movement. The
speed of a free object falling in space under the influence of
gravity will be about 32 feet during the first second, 64 feet
during the next, 96 feet during the next, &c. It would be easy,
were the moving body allowed to fall from a sufficient height, to
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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 Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: entered the cottage, where he saw an old man and a girl warming themselves
by a fire of bamboo splints. They respectfully invited him to approach the
fire; and the old folks then proceeded to warm some rice-wine, and to
prepare food for the traveler, whom they ventured to question in regard to
his journey. Meanwhile the young girl disappeared behind a screen. Tomotada
had observed, with astonishment, that she was extremely beautiful,-- though
her attire was of the most wretched kind, and her long, loose hair in
disorder. He wondered that so handsome a girl should be living in such a
miserable and lonesome place.
The old man said to him:--
"Honored Sir, the next village is far; and the snow is falling thickly.
Kwaidan |
