| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: "So the people of that house knew that the birth must have happened in
answer to somebody's prayer; and they caused inquiry to be made everywhere.
At least a vegetable-seller brought word to them that there used to be a
simple lad, called Riki-Baka, living in the Ushigome quarter, and that he
had died during the last autumn; and they sent two men-servants to look for
the mother of Riki.
"Those servants found the mother of Riki, and told her what had happened;
and she was glad exceedingly -- for that Nanigashi house is a very rich and
famous house. But the servants said that the family of Nanigashi-Sama were
very angry about the word 'Baka' on the child's hand. 'And where is your
Riki buried?' the servants asked. 'He is buried in the cemetery of
Kwaidan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan by Honore de Balzac: Monsieur de Maufrigneuse. Oh! my friend, you men can never know what
an old man of gallantry can be. What a home is that of a man
accustomed to the adulation of women of the world, when he finds
neither incense nor censer in his own house! dead to all! and yet,
perhaps for that very reason, jealous. I wished--when Monsieur de
Maufrigneuse was wholly mine--I wished to be a good wife, but I found
myself repulsed with the harshness of a soured spirit by a man who
treated me like a child and took pleasure in humiliating my self-
respect at every turn, in crushing me under the scorn of his
experience, and in convicting me of total ignorance. He wounded me on
all occasions. He did everything to make me detest him and to give me
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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 Rewards and Fairies by Rudyard Kipling: and Simon hung his head like a shy child.
'Oh, that was when he set me to make a pudden, for because
our cook was hurted. I done my uttermost, but she all fetched
adrift like in the bag, an' the more I biled the bits of her, the less
she favoured any fashion o' pudden. Moon he chawed and
chammed his piece, and Frankie chawed and chammed his'n, and
- no words to it - he took me by the ear an' walked me out over
the bow-end, an' him an' Moon hove the pudden at me on the
bowsprit gub by gub, something cruel hard!' Simon rubbed his
hairy cheek.
'"Nex' time you bring me anything," says Frankie, "you
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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 Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: framework of wood; and it was filled to excess by tidy, clean
people, of all ages and both sexes. I was rather disappointed
in the apparent degree of attention; but I believe my
expectations were raised too high. At all events the appearance
was quite equal to that in a country church in England.
The singing of the hymns was decidedly very pleasing, but
the language from the pulpit, although fluently delivered, did
not sound well: a constant repetition of words, like "tata
ta, mata mai," rendered it monotonous. After English service,
a party returned on foot to Matavai. It was a pleasant
walk, sometimes along the sea-beach and sometimes under
The Voyage of the Beagle |
