| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte by Karl Marx: what better to do than to parody at one time the year 1789, at another
the revolutionary traditions of 1793-95 Thus does the beginner, who has
acquired a new language, keep on translating it back into his own mother
tongue; only then has he grasped the spirit of the new language and is
able freely to express himself therewith when he moves in it without
recollections of the old, and has forgotten in its use his own
hereditary tongue.
When these historic configurations of the dead past are closely observed
a striking difference is forthwith noticeable. Camille Desmoulins,
Danton, Robespierre, St. Juste, Napoleon, the heroes as well as the
parties and the masses of the old French revolution, achieved in Roman
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: looks as though it were knotted and gives the impression of a
chaplet of atoms. To examine it through the lens on the web itself
is scarcely feasible, because of the shaking of the fabric, which
trembles at the least breath. By passing a sheet of glass under
the web and lifting it, I take away a few pieces of thread to
study, pieces that remain fixed to the glass in parallel lines.
Lens and microscope can now play their part.
The sight is perfectly astounding. Those threads, on the
borderland between the visible and the invisible, are very closely
twisted twine, similar to the gold cord of our officers' sword-
knots. Moreover, they are hollow. The infinitely slender is a
The Life of the Spider |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The First Men In The Moon by H. G. Wells: for us to do, we gave way to a curious drowsiness that had come upon us,
and spreading our blankets on the bottom of the sphere in such a manner as
to shut out most of the moonlight, wished each other good-night, and
almost immediately fell asleep.
And so, sleeping, and sometimes talking and reading a little, and at times
eating, although without any keenness of appetite,3 but for the most part
in a sort of quiescence that was neither waking nor slumber, we fell
through a space of time that had neither night nor day in it, silently,
softly, and swiftly down towards the moon.
It is a curious thing, that while we were in the sphere we felt not the
slightest desire for food, nor did we feel the want of it when we
The First Men In The Moon |
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 Baby Mine by Margaret Mayo: responsibility, "we'll let Jimmy fix it."
"Say, Jimmy," called Aggie excitedly, "you'll have to go straight
to the Children's Home and get that baby just as quickly as you
can. There's some red tape about the mother signing papers, but
don't mind about that. Make them give it to you to-night.
Hurry, Jimmy. Don't waste a minute."
There was evidently a protest from the other end of the wire, for
Aggie added impatiently, "Go on, Jimmy, do! You can EAT any
time." And with that she hung up the receiver.
"Its clothes," called Zoie frantically. "Tell him about the
clothes. I sent them this evening."
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