| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: half-filled with old apothecaries' stuff, which, when the other
half had done its business on Peter's ancestors, had been brought
hither from the death chamber. Here--not to give a longer
inventory of articles that will never be put up at auction--was
the fragment of a full-length looking-glass, which, by the dust
and dimness of its surface, made the picture of these old things
look older than the reality. When Peter not knowing that there
was a mirror there, caught the faint traces of his own figure, he
partly imagined that the former Peter Goldthwaite had come back,
either to assist or impede his search for the hidden wealth. And
at that moment a strange notion glimmered through his brain that
Twice Told Tales |
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 Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: say -- at the idle prattle of that good Parry, for whom your
royal highness to-day entertains such a marvelous
susceptibility."
"Well, my lord, if I have forgotten myself so far," said
Henrietta, "you do wrong to remind me of it." And she made a
sign of impatience. "The good Parry wants to speak to me, I
believe: please order them to row to the shore, my Lord
Rochester."
Rochester hastened to repeat the princess's command; and a
moment later the boat touched the bank.
"Let us land, gentlemen," said Henrietta, taking the arm
Ten Years Later |
