| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Second Home by Honore de Balzac: home from vespers.
The Count and his son were shown into a low room used as a drawing-
room, but more like a convent parlor. Polished panels of dark walnut
made it gloomy enough, and around it some old-fashioned chairs covered
with worsted work and stiff armchairs were symmetrically arranged. The
stone chimney-shelf had no ornament but a discolored mirror, and on
each side of it were the twisted branches of a pair of candle-
brackets, such as were made at the time of the Peace of Utrecht.
Against a panel opposite, young Granville saw an enormous crucifix of
ebony and ivory surrounded by a wreath of box that had been blessed.
Though there were three windows to the room, looking out on a country-
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: children in various situations--in the woods, on the shore of
the lake, in the dell of Shadow Brook, in the playroom, at
Tanglewood fireside, and in a magnificent palace of snow, with
ice windows, which he helped his little friends to build. His
auditors were even more delighted with the contents of the
present volume than with the specimens which have already been
given to the world. The classically learned Mr. Pringle, too,
had listened to two or three of the tales, and censured them
even more bitterly than he did THE THREE GOLDEN APPLES; so
that, what with praise, and what with criticism, Eustace Bright
thinks that there is good hope of at least as much success with
Tanglewood Tales |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: and said:
"Nausicaa, what can your mother have been about, to have such a
lazy daughter? Here are your clothes all lying in disorder, yet
you are going to be married almost immediately, and should not
only be well dressed yourself, but should find good clothes for
those who attend you. This is the way to get yourself a good
name, and to make your father and mother proud of you. Suppose,
then, that we make tomorrow a washing day, and start at
daybreak. I will come and help you so that you may have
everything ready as soon as possible, for all the best young men
among your own people are courting you, and you are not going to
The Odyssey |
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 Koran: head! Verily, I feared lest thou shouldst say, "Thou hast made a
division amongst the children of Israel, and hast not observed my
word."'
Said he, 'What was thy design, O Samariy?' Said he, 'I beheld what
they beheld not, and I grasped a handful from the footprint of the
messenger and cast it; for thus my soul induced me.'
Said he, 'Then get thee gone; verily, it shall be thine in life to
say, "Touch me not!" and, verily, for thee there is a threat which
thou shalt surely never alter. But look at thy god to which thou
wert just now devout; we will surely burn it, and then we will scatter
it in scattered pieces in the sea.
The Koran |
