| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: according to custom, sauntered about among the mixed population of Somanlis,
Banyans, Parsees, Jews, Arabs, and Europeans who comprise the twenty-five
thousand inhabitants of Aden. He gazed with wonder upon the fortifications
which make this place the Gibraltar of the Indian Ocean, and the vast cisterns
where the English engineers were still at work, two thousand years after
the engineers of Solomon.
"Very curious, very curious," said Passepartout to himself,
on returning to the steamer. "I see that it is by no means useless
to travel, if a man wants to see something new." At six p.m.
the Mongolia slowly moved out of the roadstead, and was soon
once more on the Indian Ocean. She had a hundred and sixty-eight hours
Around the World in 80 Days |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Chouans by Honore de Balzac: cleverly throwing repartees in his way, that he ended by thinking he
had never been so charming; and that idea having rejuvenated him, he
endeavored to inspire this seductive young woman with his own good
opinion of himself. The malicious creature practised, in return, every
art of her coquetry upon him, all the more adroitly because it was
mere play to her. Sometimes she let him think he was making rapid
progress, and then, as if surprised at the sentiment she was feeling,
she showed a sudden coolness which charmed him, and served to increase
imperceptibly his impromptu passion. She was like a fisherman who
lifts his line from time to time to see if the fish is biting. The
poor count allowed himself to be deceived by the innocent air with
The Chouans |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Heroes by Charles Kingsley: standing beside him Pallas Athene, as he had seen her in
Seriphos, seven long years before; and she stood and called
him by name, and said -
'Perseus, you have played the man, and see, you have your
reward. Know now that the Gods are just, and help him who
helps himself. Now give me here Herpe the sword, and the
sandals, and the hat of darkness, that I may give them back
to their owners; but the Gorgon's head you shall keep a
while, for you will need it in your land of Greece. Then you
shall lay it up in my temple at Seriphos, that I may wear it
on my shield for ever, a terror to the Titans and the
|
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 Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy: another at Sherton, and another in Millpond, and
another at Lullstead, and another at Wellbridge."
"And shall we ever come into our own again?"
"Ah--that I can't tell!"
"And what had I better do about it, sir?" asked
Durbeyfield, after a pause.
"Oh--nothing, nothing; except chasten yourself with the
thought of 'how are the mighty fallen.' It is a fact
of some interest to the local historian and
genealogist, nothing more. There are several families
among the cottagers of this county of almost equal
Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman |
