| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Red Inn by Honore de Balzac: this vaguely to himself by the difference which must exist between the
atmosphere of the close room and the purer air by the river. But
presently he heard a periodical noise, something like that made by
drops of water falling from a robinet into a fountain. Obeying a
feeling of panic terror he was about to rise and call the innkeeper
and waken Wahlenfer and Wilhelm, but he suddenly remembered, alas! to
his great misfortune, the tall wooden clock; he fancied the sound was
that of the pendulum, and he fell asleep with that confused and
indistinct perception.
["Do you want some water, Monsieur Taillefer?" said the master of the
house, observing that the banker was mechanically pouring from an
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Desert Gold by Zane Grey: by. He wanted to thank the faithful Mercedes, and Thorne for
getting well, and the cheerful Lash, and Ladd himself, and that
strange and wonderful Yaqui, now such a splendid figure. He thought
of home and Nell. The terrible encompassing red slopes lost something
of their fearsomeness, and there was a good spirit hovering near.
"Boys, come round," called Ladd, in his low voice. "An' you,
Mercedes. An' call the Yaqui."
Ladd lay in the shade of the brush shelter that had been
erected. His head was raised slightly on a pillow. There seemed
little of him but long lean lines, and if it had not been for his
keen, thoughtful, kindly eyes, his face would have resembled a
Desert Gold |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Arizona Nights by Stewart Edward White: by morning. Thus they would avoid the dust and heat and high
winds of the day.
The sweet night fell. The little desert winds laid soft fingers
on their checks. Overhead burned the stars, clear, unflickering,
like candles. Dimly could be seen the horses, their flanks
swinging steadily in the square trot. Ghostly bushes passed
them; ghostly rock elevations. Far, in indeterminate distance,
lay the outlines of the mountains. Always, they seemed to
recede. The plain, all but invisible, the wagon trail quite so,
the depths of space--these flung heavy on the soul their weight
|
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 Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain: down to the bottom of her heart.
The young strangers were kept long at the piano. The villagers were
astonished and enchanted with the magnificence of their performance,
and could not bear to have them stop. All the music that they had ever
heard before seemed spiritless prentice-work and barren of grace and
charm when compared with these intoxicating floods of melodious sound.
They realized that for once in their lives they were hearing masters.
CHAPTER 7
The Unknown Nymph
One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie
is that a cat has only nine lives.
|
