| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson: you to be interested, as future GREAT EASTERN stories may be full
of them: Theophilus Smith, a man of Latimer Clark's; Leslie C.
Hill, my prizeman at University College; Lord Sackville Cecil;
King, one of the Thomsonian Kings; Laws, goes for Willoughby Smith,
who will also be on board; Varley, Clark, and Sir James Anderson
make up the sum of all you know anything of. A Captain Halpin
commands the big ship. There are four smaller vessels. The WM.
CORY, which laid the Norderney cable, has already gone to St.
Pierre to lay the shore ends. The HAWK and CHILTERN have gone to
Brest to lay shore ends. The HAWK and SCANDERIA go with us across
the Atlantic and we shall at St. Pierre be transhipped into one or
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: blaze with gold. Old rags, indeed!"
But it was not an old woman's legend that would discourage Peter
Goldthwaite. All night long he slept among pleasant dreams, and
awoke at daylight with a joyous throb of the heart, which few are
fortunate enough to feel beyond their boyhood. Day after day he
labored hard without wasting a moment, except at meal times, when
Tabitha summoned him to the pork and cabbage, or such other
sustenance as she had picked up, or Providence had sent them.
Being a truly pious man, Peter never failed to ask a blessing; if
the food were none of the best, then so much the more earnestly,
as it was more needed;--nor to return thanks, if the dinner had
Twice Told Tales |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: the poor--don't keep them waiting!"
The Chair. "Order! I now offer the stranger's remaining document.
It says: 'If no claimant shall appear [grand chorus of groans], I
desire that you open the sack and count out the money to the
principal citizens of your town, they to take it in trust [Cries of
"Oh! Oh! Oh!"], and use it in such ways as to them shall seem best
for the propagation and preservation of your community's noble
reputation for incorruptible honesty [more cries]--a reputation to
which their names and their efforts will add a new and far-reaching
lustre." [Enthusiastic outburst of sarcastic applause.] That seems
to be all. No--here is a postscript:
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
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 Some Reminiscences by Joseph Conrad: head.
"Now, Joseph," my companion addressed him, "do you think we shall
manage to get home before six?" His answer was that we would
surely, with God's help, and providing there were no heavy drifts
in the long stretch between certain villages whose names came
with an extremely familiar sound to my ears. He turned out an
excellent coachman with an instinct for keeping the road amongst
the snow-covered fields and a natural gift of getting the best
out of his horses.
"He is the son of that Joseph that I suppose the Captain
remembers. He who used to drive the Captain's late grandmother
Some Reminiscences |
