| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Sportsman by Xenophon: right foot the other."
[28] "Statum venatoris aprum venabulo excipientis pinxit
Philostratus," "Imag." i. 28, Schn.
[29] Or, "he will step forward and take one stride not much longer
than that of a wrestler, and thrust forward his boar-spear."
[30] Cf. Hes. "Shield," 387; Hom. "Il." xii. 148: "Then forth rushed
the twain, and fought in front of the gates like wild boars that
in the mountains abide the assailing crew of men and dogs, and
charging on either flank they crush the wood around them, cutting
it at the root, and the clatter of their tusks waxes loud, till
one smite them and take their life away" (A. Lang).
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Atheist's Mass by Honore de Balzac: diplomates--but as an honest man who has nothing in his life to
hide, he walked with his head erect, and a mind content. In
short, to put the facts into a word, Horace was the Pylades of
more than one Orestes--creditors being regarded as the nearest
modern equivalent to the Furies of the ancients.
He carried his poverty with the cheerfulness which is perhaps one
of the chief elements of courage, and, like all people who have
nothing, he made very few debts. As sober as a camel and active
as a stag, he was steadfast in his ideas and his conduct.
The happy phase of Bianchon's life began on the day when the
famous surgeon had proof of the qualities and the defects which,
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde: place is with your child.
[LADY WINDERMERE bursts into tears and buries her face in her
hands.]
[Rushing to her.] Lady Windermere!
LADY WINDERMERE. [Holding out her hands to her, helplessly, as a
child might do.] Take me home. Take me home.
MRS. ERLYNNE. [Is about to embrace her. Then restrains herself.
There is a look of wonderful joy in her face.] Come! Where is
your cloak? [Getting it from sofa.] Here. Put it on. Come at
once!
[They go to the door.]
|
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 Tulip by Alexandre Dumas: the Horticultural Society of Haarlem."
Then, knitting his brow, he added, --
"As to the tulip, make yourself easy, Master Boxtel, you
shall have justice done to you."
Boxtel bowed with a heart full of joy, and received the
congratulations of the President.
"You, my child," William of Orange continued, "you were
going to commit a crime. I will not punish you; but the real
evil-doer shall pay the penalty for both. A man of his name
may be a conspirator, and even a traitor, but he ought not
to be a thief."
The Black Tulip |
