| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Melmoth Reconciled by Honore de Balzac: it is heartrending to hear them! And then----the gulf yawns, and gives
up serried columns of figures marching four deep, when as a matter of
fact they should have issued innocently three by three.
Before Castanier had any idea of how much he had spent, he had
arranged for Aquilina to have a carriage from a livery stable when she
went out, instead of a cab. Castanier was a gourmand; he engaged an
excellent cook; and Aquilina, to please him, had herself made the
purchases of early fruit and vegetables, rare delicacies, and
exquisite wines. But, as Aquilina had nothing of her own, these gifts
of hers, so precious by reason of the thought and tact and
graciousness that prompted them, were no less a drain upon Castanier's
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne: Ah, that Gulf Stream! It deserves its name of the King of Tempests.
It is that which causes those formidable cyclones, by the
difference of temperature between its air and its currents.
A shower of fire had succeeded the rain. The drops of water were
changed to sharp spikes. One would have thought that Captain Nemo
was courting a death worthy of himself, a death by lightning.
As the Nautilus, pitching dreadfully, raised its steel spur in the air,
it seemed to act as a conductor, and I saw long sparks burst from it.
Crushed and without strength I crawled to the panel, opened it,
and descended to the saloon. The storm was then at its height.
It was impossible to stand upright in the interior of the Nautilus.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: Good-by!'
"He waved his hand. Our men dropped their bundles
quietly. The steamer moved ahead, and passing out of
the circle of light, vanished at once from our sight, daz-
zled by the fire which burned fiercely. And then I knew
that I would see the East first as commander of a small
boat. I thought it fine; and the fidelity to the old ship
was fine. We should see the last of her. Oh the glamour
of youth! Oh the fire of it, more dazzling than the
flames of the burning ship, throwing a magic light on the
wide earth, leaping audaciously to the sky, presently to
Youth |
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 Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: too large for its body. A cottony mouldiness extended round its head;
and in the corners of its eyelids might be seen little red specks
which appeared to move. Salammbo would approach its silver-wire basket
from time to time, and would draw aside the purple curtains, the lotus
leaves, and the bird's down; but it was continually rolled up upon
itself, more motionless than a withered bind-weed; and from looking at
it she at last came to feel a kind of spiral within her heart, another
serpent, as it were, mounting up to her throat by degrees and
strangling her.
She was in despair of having seen the zaimph, and yet she felt a sort
of joy, an intimate pride at having done so. A mystery shrank within
Salammbo |
