| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Facino Cane by Honore de Balzac: like any one else."
"What is your name?"
"Here, in Paris, I am Pere Canet," he said. "It was the only way of
spelling my name on the register. But in Italy I am Marco Facino Cane,
Prince of Varese."
"What, are you descended from the great /condottiere/ Facino Cane,
whose lands won by the sword were taken by the Dukes of Milan?"
"/E vero/," returned he. "His son's life was not safe under the
Visconti; he fled to Venice, and his name was inscribed on the Golden
Book. And now neither Cane or Golden Book are in existence." His
gesture startled me; it told of patriotism extinguished and weariness
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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 Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells: had remarked about them at first? Then, again, in his personal attendant
there was a bizarre quality which had impressed me profoundly.
These circumstances threw a haze of mystery round the man. They laid
hold of my imagination, and hampered my tongue.
Towards midnight our talk of London died away, and we stood
side by side leaning over the bulwarks and staring dreamily
over the silent, starlit sea, each pursuing his own thoughts.
It was the atmosphere for sentiment, and I began upon my gratitude.
"If I may say it," said I, after a time, "you have saved my life."
"Chance," he answered. "Just chance."
"I prefer to make my thanks to the accessible agent."
The Island of Doctor Moreau |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: others had come from the desert.
As the colleges arrived they ranged themselves in the courts of the
temples, on the outer galleries, and along double staircases which
rose against the walls, and drew together at the top. Files of white
robes appeared between the colonnades, and the architecture was
peopled with human statues, motionless as statues of stone.
Then came the masters of the exchequer, the governors of the
provinces, and all the rich. A great tumult prevailed below. Adjacent
streets were discharging the crowd, hierodules were driving it back
with blows of sticks; and then Salammbo appeared in a litter
surmounted by a purple canopy, and surrounded by the Ancients crowned
Salammbo |
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 Cruise of the Jasper B. by Don Marquis: closer, alert for the instant when Loge would fence wide; waxing
as the other waned; menacing eyes, throat, and heart with a point
that leaped and dazzled; and at the same time inclosing himself
within a rampart of steel which Loge found it more and more
hopeless to attempt to penetrate. It was as if Cleggett's blade
were an extension of his will; he and his sword were not two
things, but one. The metal in his hand was no longer merely a
whip of steel; it was a thing that lived with his own life. His
pulse beat in it. It was a part of him. His nervous force
permeated it and animated it; it was his thought turned to
tempered metal, and it was with the rapidity, directness and
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