| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Under the Red Robe by Stanley Weyman: you up as I would a pig!'
'Sit down, fool,' I said. 'I am not going to harm you.
Where is your wife?'
'About her business.'
'Which should be getting my supper,' I retorted.
He rose sullenly, and, fetching a platter, poured the
mess of broth and vegetables into it. Then he went to a
cupboard and brought out a loaf of black bread and a
measure of wine, and set them also on the table.
'You see it,' he said laconically.
'And a poor welcome!' I replied.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: and science alike were in vain. By the month of January, 1838, Marcas
himself felt that he had but a few days to live.
The man whose soul and brain he had been for six months never even
sent to inquire after him. Marcas expressed the greatest contempt for
the Government; he seemed to doubt what the fate of France might be,
and it was this doubt that had made him ill. He had, he thought,
detected treason in the heart of power, not tangible, seizable
treason, the result of facts, but the treason of a system, the
subordination of national interests to selfish ends. His belief in the
degradation of the country was enough to aggravate his complaint.
I myself was witness to the proposals made to him by one of the
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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 Door in the Wall, et. al. by H. G. Wells: winked and flickered purple. The shadows lay black behind the
dynamos, the ball governors of the engines whirled from light to
darkness, and their pistons beat loud and steady. The world
outside seen through the open end of the shed seemed incredibly dim
and remote. It seemed absolutely silent, too, since the riot of
the machinery drowned every external sound. Far away was the black
fence of the yard with grey shadowy houses behind, and above was
the deep blue sky and the pale little stars. Azuma-zi suddenly
walked across the centre of the shed above which the leather bands
were running, and went into the shadow by the big dynamo. Holroyd
heard a click, and the spin of the armature changed.
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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 Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: right to meet you, and to explain to you privately my reasons for
doing so. An affair of a most scandalous character has taken place in
our midst. To what affair I am referring I think most of those present
will guess. Now, an automatic process has led to that affair bringing
about the discovery of other matters. Those matters are no less
dishonourable than the primary one; and to that I regret to have to
add that there stand involved in them certain persons whom I had
hitherto believed to be honourable. Of the object aimed at by those
who have complicated matters to the point of making their resolution
almost impossible by ordinary methods I am aware; as also I am aware
of the identity of the ringleader, despite the skill with which he has
Dead Souls |
