| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde: this house. Mrs. Arbuthnot doesn't know anything about the wicked
society in which we all live. She won't go into it. She is far
too good. I consider it was a great honour her coming to me last
night. It gave quite an atmosphere of respectability to the party.
MRS. ALLONBY. Ah, that must have been what you thought was thunder
in the air.
LADY HUNSTANTON. My dear, how can you say that? There is no
resemblance between the two things at all. But really, Gerald,
what do you mean by not being suitable?
GERALD. Lord Illingworth's views of life and mine are too
different.
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: it gave way to impatience upon finding that his volatile friend
Bucklaw seemed in no hurry to return with his borrowed steed,
which Ravenswood, before leaving the field, wished to see
restored to the obliging owner. As he was about to move towards
the group of assembled huntsmen, he was joined by a horseman,
who, like himself, had kept aloof during the fall of the deer.
This personage seemed stricken in years. He wore a scarlet
cloak, buttoning high upon his face, and his hat was unlooped and
slouched, probably by way of defence against the weather. His
horse, a strong and steady palfrey, was calculated for a rider
who proposed to witness the sport of the day rather than to share
The Bride of Lammermoor |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft: months later after incessant screamings to be saved from some
escaped denizen of hell. Had my uncle referred to these cases
by name instead of merely by number, I should have attempted some
corroboration and personal investigation; but as it was, I succeeded
in tracing down only a few. All of these, however, bore out the
notes in full. I have often wondered if all the the objects of
the professor's questioning felt as puzzled as did this fraction.
It is well that no explanation shall ever reach them.
The press
cuttings, as I have intimated, touched on cases of panic, mania,
and eccentricity during the given period. Professor Angell must
Call of Cthulhu |
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 A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: " 'Oh, yes, yes,' she continued quickly, in answer to this mute
dissent. 'I know all about it, du Bruel, my dear, I that have been
like a queen in my house all my life till I married you. My wishes
were guessed, fulfilled, and more than fulfilled. After all, I am
thirty-five, and at five-and-thirty a woman cannot expect to be loved.
Ah, if I were a girl of sixteen, if I had not lost something that is
dearly bought at the Opera, what attention you would pay me, M. du
Bruel! I feel the most supreme contempt for men who boast that they
can love and grow careless and neglectful in little things as time
grows on. You are short and insignificant, you see, du Bruel; you love
to torment a woman; it is your only way of showing your strength. A
|
