| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: But it is foreign from the purpose of this plain record to
enlist sympathy for the recorder. The topic upon which, here,
I have ventured to touch was one fascinating enough to me;
I cannot hope that it holds equal charm for any other.
Let us return to that which it is my duty to narrate and let
us forget my brief digression.
It is a fact, singular, but true, that few Londoners know London.
Under the guidance of my friend, Nayland Smith, I had learned,
since his return from Burma, how there are haunts in the very heart
of the metropolis whose existence is unsuspected by all but the few;
places unknown even to the ubiquitous copy-hunting pressman.
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Coxon Fund by Henry James: people met at the social board--I knew all her stories. Then as
Miss Anvoy remained momentarily vague I added: "Those about her
husband."
"Oh yes, but there are some new ones."
"None for me. Ah novelty would be pleasant!"
"Doesn't it appear that of late he has been particularly horrid?"
"His fluctuations don't matter", I returned, "for at night all cats
are grey. You saw the shade of this one the night we waited for
him together. What will you have? He has no dignity."
Miss Anvoy, who had been introducing with her American
distinctness, looked encouragingly round at some of the
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Love and Friendship by Jane Austen: as a sailor, I cannot help foreseeing that he will be equalled in
this or the next Century by one who tho' now but young, already
promises to answer all the ardent and sanguine expectations of
his Relations and Freinds, amongst whom I may class the amiable
Lady to whom this work is dedicated, and my no less amiable self.
Though of a different profession, and shining in a different
sphere of Life, yet equally conspicuous in the Character of an
Earl, as Drake was in that of a Sailor, was Robert Devereux Lord
Essex. This unfortunate young Man was not unlike in character to
that equally unfortunate one FREDERIC DELAMERE. The simile may
be carried still farther, and Elizabeth the torment of Essex may
Love and Friendship |
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 Unconscious Comedians by Honore de Balzac: Too late he perceived that Bixiou had been making him pose.
At half-past five o'clock, the moment when Leon de Lora was making his
evening toilet to the great wonderment of Gazonal, who counted the
thousand and one superfluities of his cousin, and admired the
solemnity of the valet as he performed his functions, the "pedicure of
monsieur" was announced, and Publicola Masson, a little man fifty
years of age, made his appearance, laid a small box of instruments on
the floor, and sat down on a small chair opposite to Leon, after
bowing to Gazonal and Bixiou.
"How are matters going with you?" asked Leon, delivering to Publicola
one of his feet, already washed and prepared by the valet.
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