| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: bribed by a factory owner, who thus escapes taxes
altogether. And again a village court scene, and
a sentence carried into execution--the lash!
"Ilia Vasilievich, could you not spare me
that?"
"No."
The peasant burst into tears. "Well, of
course, Christ suffered, and He bids us suffer
too."
Then other scenes. The Stundists--a sect
--being broken up and dispersed; the clergy re-
 The Forged Coupon |
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 Seraphita by Honore de Balzac: majority have abused their triple power. But though this man still
held by certain outward liens to the slimy side of humanity, he
belonged also and positively to the sphere where force is intelligent.
In spite of the many veils which enveloped his soul, there were
certain ineffable symptoms of this fact which were visible to pure
spirits, to the eyes of the child whose innocence has known no breath
of evil passions, to the eyes of the old man who has lived to regain
his purity.
These signs revealed a Cain for whom there was still hope,--one who
seemed as though he were seeking absolution from the ends of the
earth. Minna suspected the galley-slave of glory in the man; Seraphita
 Seraphita |