| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Droll Stories, V. 1 by Honore de Balzac: words which shocked the good ladies, to their credit be it said.
Philippe, then thinking over it in his mind that which on the
preceding evening he had seen with his eyes, doubted if more did not
remain behind. Then was he sad, and without taking bite or sup,
strolled about the town waiting the appointed hour, although he was
well-favoured and gallant enough to find others less difficult to
overcome than was Madame Imperia.
The night came; the little Touranian, exalted with pride caparisoned
with desire, and spurred by his "alacks" and "alases" which nearly
choked him, glided like an eel into the domicile of the veritable
Queen of the Council--for before her bowed humbly all the authority,
Droll Stories, V. 1 |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: a quiet dacent way. So I dusted him a chair, an' fettled up th'
fireplace a bit; but I hadn't forgotten th' Rector's words, so says
I, "I wonder, sir, you should give yourself that trouble, to come
so far to see a 'canting old fool,' such as me."
'He seemed taken aback at that; but he would fain persuade me 'at
the Rector was only in jest; and when that wouldn't do, he says,
"Well, Nancy, you shouldn't think so much about it: Mr. Hatfield
was a little out of humour just then: you know we're none of us
perfect - even Moses spoke unadvisedly with his lips. But now sit
down a minute, if you can spare the time, and tell me all your
doubts and fears; and I'll try to remove them."
Agnes Grey |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Mansion by Henry van Dyke: upon
his folded hands. He slipped into the unknown.
How long afterward conscious life returned to him he did not
know.
The blank might have been an hour or a century. He knew only
that
omething had happened in the interval. What is was he could not
tell.
He found great difficulty in catching the thread of his identity
again.
He felt that he was himself; but the trouble was to make his
|
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 Wrecker by Stevenson & Osbourne: without discussion. So it befell that the words "well-known
connoisseur" were deleted; but that H. Loudon Dodd became
manager and honorary steward of Pinkerton's Hebdomadary
Picnics, soon shortened, by popular consent, to the Dromedary.
By eight o'clock, any Sunday morning, I was to be observed by
an admiring public on the wharf. The garb and attributes of
sacrifice consisted of a black frock coat, rosetted, its pockets
bulging with sweetmeats and inferior cigars, trousers of light
blue, a silk hat like a reflector, and a varnished wand. A
goodly steamer guarded my one flank, panting and throbbing,
flags fluttering fore and aft of her, illustrative of the Dromedary
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