| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Long Odds by H. Rider Haggard: old woman, wrapped up in a greasy leather garment. Taking her by the
arm, I dragged her out, for she could not, or would not, come by
herself, and the stench was overpowering me. Such a sight as she was--a
bag of bones, covered over with black, shrivelled parchment. The only
white thing about her was her wool, and she seemed to be pretty well
dead except for her eyes and her voice. She thought that I was a devil
come to take her, and that is why she yelled so. Well, I got her down
to the waggon, and gave her a 'tot' of Cape smoke, and then, as soon as
it was ready, poured about a pint of beef-tea down her throat, made from
the flesh of a blue vilderbeeste I had killed the day before, and after
that she brightened up wonderfully. She could talk Zulu--indeed, it
Long Odds |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Gambara by Honore de Balzac: finished by the /allegro vivace/ of the bacchanalian chorus in D
minor. This, indeed, is the triumph of hell! Roll on, harmony, and
wrap us in a thousand folds! Roll on, bewitch us! The powers of
darkness have clutched their prey; they hold him while they dance. The
great genius, born to conquer and to reign, is lost! The devils
rejoice, misery stifles genius, passion will wreck the knight!"
And here Gambara improvised a /fantasia/ of his own on the
bacchanalian chorus, with ingenious variations, and humming the air in
a melancholy drone as if to express the secret sufferings he had
known.
"Do you hear the heavenly lamentations of neglected love?" he said.
Gambara |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: They hope to span the long years of change through which they
must pass in the ordinary course of events and at a single
stride become Galus. We of the older Kro-lu tell them that
though they occupy the land of the Galu and wear the skins and
ornaments of the golden people, still they will not be Galus
till the time arrives that they are ripe to rise. We also tell
them that even then they will never become a true Galu race,
since there will still be those among them who can never rise.
It is all right to raid the Galu country occasionally for
plunder, as our people do; but to attempt to conquer it and
hold it is madness. For my part, I have been content to wait
The People That Time Forgot |
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 Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce: unfavorable. Among the Romans it was customary before undertaking any
important action or enterprise to obtain from the augurs, or state
prophets, some hint of its probable outcome; and one of their favorite
and most trustworthy modes of divination consisted in observing the
flight of birds -- the omens thence derived being called _auspices_.
Newspaper reporters and certain miscreant lexicographers have decided
that the word -- always in the plural -- shall mean "patronage" or
"management"; as, "The festivities were under the auspices of the
Ancient and Honorable Order of Body-Snatchers"; or, "The hilarities
were auspicated by the Knights of Hunger."
A Roman slave appeared one day
The Devil's Dictionary |
