| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne: and the course of the Nautilus, a little changed, was bringing
it back towards the southeast.
I showed this little rock, lost in the midst of the North Pacific,
to my companions.
"If Captain Nemo does sometimes go on dry ground," said I,
"he at least chooses desert islands."
Ned Land shrugged his shoulders without speaking, and Conseil
and he left me.
After supper, which was served by the steward, mute and impassive,
I went to bed, not without some anxiety.
The next morning, the 17th of November, on awakening, I felt
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
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 Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: his slaves went as far as the middle of the outposts to drive caltrops
into the ground. But the elephants, whose allowances were lessened,
struggled in their shackles. To economise the grass he ordered the
Clinabarians to kill the least strong among the stallions. A few
refused to do so, and he had them decapitated. The horses were eaten.
The recollection of this fresh meat was a source of great sadness to
them in the days that followed.
From the bottom of the ampitheatre in which they were confined they
could see the four bustling camps of the Barbarians all around them on
the heights. Women moved about with leathern bottles on their heads,
goats strayed bleating beneath the piles of pikes; sentries were being
Salammbo |
