| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Child of Storm by H. Rider Haggard: with a curious toad-like gait till he had passed through the Councillors
and stood in the open space of the ring. Halting there, he looked about
him slowly with his deep-set eyes, turning as he looked, till at length
his glance fell upon the King.
"What would you have of me, Son of Senzangakona?" he asked. "Many years
have passed since last we met. Why do you drag me from my hut, I who
have visited the kraal of the King of the Zulus but twice since the
'Black One' [Chaka] sat upon the throne--once when the Boers were killed
by him who went before you, and once when I was brought forth to see all
who were left of my race, shoots of the royal Dwandwe stock, slain
before my eyes. Do you bear me hither that I may follow them into the
Child of Storm |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Grimm's Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm: very hard, and said, 'Only tell me what it is, and do not think I
shall be angry, for I will forgive you.' 'Alas!' said the huntsman;
'the king has ordered me to shoot you.' The prince started at this,
and said, 'Let me live, and I will change dresses with you; you shall
take my royal coat to show to my father, and do you give me your
shabby one.' 'With all my heart,' said the huntsman; 'I am sure I
shall be glad to save you, for I could not have shot you.' Then he
took the prince's coat, and gave him the shabby one, and went away
through the wood.
Some time after, three grand embassies came to the old king's court,
with rich gifts of gold and precious stones for his youngest son; now
Grimm's Fairy Tales |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Malbone: An Oldport Romance by Thomas Wentworth Higginson: and converse chiefly by smiles and signs.
On the whole, the evening opened gayly. Newly arrived
Frenchmen are apt to be so unused to the familiar society of
unmarried girls, that the most innocent share in it has for
them the zest of forbidden fruit, and the most blameless
intercourse seems almost a bonne fortune. Most of these
officers were from the lower ranks of French society, but they
all had that good-breeding which their race wears with such
ease, and can unhappily put off with the same.
The admiral and the fleet captain were soon turned over to
Hope, who spoke French as she did English, with quiet grace.
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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 A Daughter of Eve by Honore de Balzac: impulse that has driven you to a celebrated man, by the jealous envy
you have roused in certain women. Lady Dudley, Madame d'Espard, and my
sister-in-law Emilie count for something in all this. Those women,
against whom I ought to have put you more thoroughly on your guard,
have cultivated your curiosity more to trouble me and cause me
unhappiness, than to fling you into a whirlpool which, as I believe,
you would never have entered."
As she listened to these words, so full of kindness, the countess was
torn by many conflicting feelings; but the storm within her breast was
ruled by one of them,--a keen admiration for her husband. Proud and
noble souls are prompt to recognize the delicacy with which they are
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