| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Chinese Boy and Girl by Isaac Taylor Headland: its life to the place it occupies in the family whether first,
second or third.
If a girl she may be compelled to answer to "Little Slave," and
if a boy to "Baldhead." But the names usually given indicate the
place or time of birth, the hope of the parent for the child, or
exhibit the parent's love of beauty or euphony.
A friend who was educated in a school situated in Filial
Piety Lane and who afterwards lived near Filial Piety Gate
called his first son "Two Filials." Another friend had sons
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: fat feller fer a long time, but at last he turned
'round an' he ses: 'Ah, go t' hell an' find th'
road t' th' river!' An' jest then a shot slapped
him bang on th' side th' head. He was a sergeant,
too. Them was his last words. Thunder, I wish
we was sure 'a findin' our reg'ments t'-night. It 's
goin' t' be long huntin'. But I guess we kin
do it."
In the search which followed, the man of the
cheery voice seemed to the youth to possess a
wand of a magic kind. He threaded the mazes
The Red Badge of Courage |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Salome by Oscar Wilde: n'aime que toi . . . J'ai soif de ta beaute. J'ai faim de ton
corps. Et ni le vin, ni les fruits ne peuvent apaiser mon desir.
Que ferai-je, Iokanaan, maintenant? Ni les fleuves ni les grandes
eaux, ne pourraient eteindre ma passion. J'etais une Princesse, tu
m'as dedaignee. J'etais une vierge, tu m'as defloree. J'etais
chaste, tu as rempli mes veines de feu . . . Ah! Ah! pourquoi ne
m'as-tu pas regardee, Iokanaan? Si tu m'avais regardee tu m'aurais
aimee. Je sais bien que tu m'aurais aimee, et le mystere de l'amour
est plus grand que le mystere de la mort. Il ne faut regarder que
l'amour.
HERODE. Elle est monstrueuse, ta fille, elle est tout e fait
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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 Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: attired in black; but he had added an old woman to the young one of
Gerard Douw. The cruelly simple and good-humored face of the
executioner completed and dominated the group. This plagiarism, very
cleverly disguised, was not discovered. The catalogue contained the
following:--
510. Grassou de Fougeres (Pierre), rue de Navarin, 2.
Death-toilet of a Chouan, condemned to execution in 1809.
Though wholly second-rate, the picture had immense success, for it
recalled the affair of the "chauffeurs," of Mortagne. A crowd
collected every day before the now fashionable canvas; even Charles X.
paused to look at it. "Madame," being told of the patient life of the
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