| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Salome by Oscar Wilde: SALOME. Je n'ai aucune envie de danser, tetrarque.
HERODE. Salome, fille d'Herodias, dansez pour moi.
HERODIAS. Laissez la tranquille.
HERODE. Je vous ordonne de danser, Salome.
SALOME. Je ne danserai pas, tetrarque.
HERODIAS [riant] Voile comme elle vous obeit!
HERODE. Qu'est-ce que cela me fait qu'elle danse ou non? Cela ne
me fait rien. Je suis heureux ce soir. Je suis tres heureux.
Jamais je n'ai ete si heureux.
LE PREMIER SOLDAT. Il a l'air sombre, le tetrarque. N'est-ce pas
qu'il a l'air sombre?
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Bronte Sisters: 'Then, sir, I fear you must be very much worse than you should be,
if I, a mere ordinary mortal, am, by your own confession, so vastly
your superior; and since there exists so little sympathy between
us, I think we had better each look out for some more congenial
companion.' And forthwith moving to the window, I began to look
out for my little son and his gay young friend.
'No, I am the ordinary mortal, I maintain,' replied Mr. Hargrave.
'I will not allow myself to be worse than my fellows; but you,
Madam - I equally maintain there is nobody like you. But are you
happy?' he asked in a serious tone.
'As happy as some others, I suppose.'
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas: diamond."
"The devil!" said D'Artagnan, becoming angry again.
"I won back your harness, then your horse, then my harness, then
my horse, and then I lost again. In brief, I regained your
harness and then mine. That's where we are. That was a superb
throw, so I left off there."
D'Artagnan breathed as if the whole hostelry had been removed
from his breast.
"Then the diamond is safe?" said he, timidly.
"Intact, my dear friend; besides the harness of your Bucephalus
and mine."
The Three Musketeers |
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 The Young Forester by Zane Grey: that would not subside. But I soon saw that I might have a long wait. The
Mexican did not go to sleep, so I had time to cool off.
The campfire gradually burned out, and the white glow changed to red. One
of the men snored in a way that sounded like a wheezy whistle. Coyotes
howled in the woods, and the longer I listened to the long, strange howls
the better I liked them. The roar in the wind had died down to a moaning. I
thought of myself lying there, with my skin prickling and my eyes sharp on
the darkening forms. I thought of the nights I had spent with Hal in the
old woods at home. How full the present seemed! My breast swelled, my hand
gripped my revolver, my eyes pierced the darkness, and I would not have
been anywhere else for the world.
The Young Forester |
