| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling: When the dole was ended, laughingly she said,
Master, of a million mouths, is not one unfed?"
Laughing, Shiv made answer, "All have had their part,
Even he, the little one, hidden 'neath thy heart."
From her breast she plucked it, Parbati the thief,
Saw the Least of Little Things gnawed a new-grown leaf!
Saw and feared and wondered, making prayer to Shiv,
Who hath surely given meat to all that live.
All things made he--Shiva the Preserver.
Mahadeo! Mahadeo! He made all,--
Thorn for the camel, fodder for the kine,
The Jungle Book |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Bureaucracy by Honore de Balzac: pleasure of every description, which threw him into a constant round
of dissipation. Hunter of grisettes, smoker, jester, diner-out and
frequenter of supper-parties, always tuned to the highest pitch,
shining equally in the greenroom and at the balls given among the
grisettes of the Allee des Veuves, he was just as surprisingly
entertaining at table as at a picnic, as gay and lively at midnight on
the streets as in the morning when he jumped out of bed, and yet at
heart gloomy and melancholy, like most of the great comic players.
Launched into the world of actors and actresses, writers, artists, and
certain women of uncertain means, he lived well, went to the theatre
without paying, gambled at Frascati, and often won. Artist by nature
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith: to spare the cellar. I did, I assure you. (To the side scene.) Here,
let one of my servants come up. (To him.) My positive directions
were, that as I did not drink myself, they should make up for my
deficiencies below.
HARDCASTLE. Then they had your orders for what they do? I'm
satisfied!
MARLOW. They had, I assure you. You shall hear from one of
themselves.
Enter Servant, drunk.
MARLOW. You, Jeremy! Come forward, sirrah! What were my orders?
Were you not told to drink freely, and call for what you thought fit,
She Stoops to Conquer |
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 A Hero of Our Time by M.Y. Lermontov: Before ten minutes had passed the man we
were awaiting appeared at the end of the square.
He was walking with Colonel N., who accom-
panied him as far as the inn, said good-bye to him,
and then turned back to the fortress. I im-
mediately despatched one of the old soldiers for
Maksim Maksimych.
Pechorin's manservant went out to meet him
and informed him that they were going to put to
at once; he handed him a box of cigars, received
a few orders, and went off about his business. His
|
