| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Bucky O'Connor by William MacLeod Raine: Bucky sharply.
"It must have been about two months ago, down at Nogales, that I
sold it to a fellow. I was playing faro and losing. He gave me
five dollars for it."
And to that he stuck stoutly, nor could he be shaken from it.
Both O'Connor and the sheriff believed he was lying, for they
were convinced that he was the bandit with the red wig who had
covered the engineer while his companions robbed the train. But
of this they had no proof. Nor did Bucky even mention his
suspicion to Hardman, for it was his intention to turn him loose
and have him watched. Thus, perhaps, he would be caught
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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 Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: Banded Epeira's. It is an obtuse conoid, closed with a star-shaped
disk. It is made of a stouter and especially a thicker material
than the Banded Epeira's balloon, for which reason a spontaneous
rupture becomes more necessary than ever.
This rupture is effected at the sides of the bag, not far from the
edge of the lid. Like the ripping of the balloon, it requires the
rough aid of the heat of July. Its mechanism also seems to work by
the expansion of the heated air, for we again see a partial
emission of the silky floss that fills the pouch.
The exit of the family is performed in a single group and, this
time, before the moult, perhaps for lack of the space necessary for
The Life of the Spider |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Timaeus by Plato: with these two, the soul of the world is created? It is difficult to
explain a process of thought so strange and unaccustomed to us, in which
modern distinctions run into one another and are lost sight of. First, let
us consider once more the meaning of the Same and the Other. The Same is
the unchanging and indivisible, the heaven of the fixed stars, partaking of
the divine nature, which, having law in itself, gives law to all besides
and is the element of order and permanence in man and on the earth. It is
the rational principle, mind regarded as a work, as creation--not as the
creator. The old tradition of Parmenides and of the Eleatic Being, the
foundation of so much in the philosophy of Greece and of the world, was
lingering in Plato's mind. The Other is the variable or changing element,
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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 The Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: from the oppressed and stupified state of her feelings. To an
eye so unobserving as that of Bucklaw, her demeanour had little
more of reluctance than might suit the character of a bashful
young lady, who, however, he could not disguise from himself, was
complying with the choice of her friends rather than exercising
any personal predilection in his favour.
When the morning compliment of the bridegroom had been paid,
Miss Ashton was left for some time to herself; her mother
remarking, that the deeds must be signed before the hour of noon,
in order that the marriage might be happy. Lucy suffered herself
to be attired for the occasion as the taste of her attendants
The Bride of Lammermoor |
