| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf: nothing, he murmured.
He should have been a great philosopher, said Mrs Ramsay, as they went
down the road to the fishing village, but he had made an unfortunate
marriage. Holding her black parasol very erect, and moving with an
indescribable air of expectation, as if she were going to meet some one
round the corner, she told the story; an affair at Oxford with some girl;
an early marriage; poverty; going to India; translating a little poetry
"very beautifully, I believe," being willing to teach the boys Persian or
Hindustanee, but what really was the use of that?--and then lying, as they
saw him, on the lawn.
It flattered him; snubbed as he had been, it soothed him that Mrs Ramsay
To the Lighthouse |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: blood backward to her heart, and quickened her footsteps.
She wondered within herself at the strength that seemed to be
come upon her; for she felt the weight of her boy as if it had
been a feather, and every flutter of fear seemed to increase the
supernatural power that bore her on, while from her pale lips
burst forth, in frequent ejaculations, the prayer to a Friend
above--"Lord, help! Lord, save me!"
If it were _your_ Harry, mother, or your Willie, that were going
to be torn from you by a brutal trader, tomorrow morning,--if
you had seen the man, and heard that the papers were signed and
delivered, and you had only from twelve o'clock till morning to
Uncle Tom's Cabin |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Child of Storm by H. Rider Haggard: sleep, and then the fire in my breast would soon go out--for ever."
"I might talk now, for the matter of that, Mameena."
"No; for men like you do not tell tales of foolish girls who chance to
love them. But if that plan began to work, and you heard say that kings
or princes died, it might be otherwise. You might say, 'I think I know
where the witch lives who causes these evils'--in your sleep,
Macumazahn."
"Mameena," I said, "tell me no more. Setting your dreams on one side,
can I be false to my friend, Saduko, who talks to me day and night of
you?"
"Saduko! Piff!" she exclaimed, with that expressive gesture of her
Child of Storm |
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 Red Seal by Natalie Sumner Lincoln: voice shook -" he might have been alive to-day."
"How so?" Penfield shot the question at her.
"Because then he would have been spared the additional excitement
of his trip to the police station and the scene in court, which
brought on his attack of angina pectoris."
Penfield regarded her for a moment in silence.
"I have no further questions, Miss McIntyre," he said, and turned
to the morgue master. "Ask Miss Barbara McIntyre to come to the
platform." Turning back to his table and the papers thereon he
failed to see the twins pass each other in the aisle. They were
identically attired and when Coroner Penfield looked again at the
The Red Seal |
