| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: waist and whirled recklessly three times round the room, to the
crash of upsetting furniture and the humming of a valse tune in a
warm contralto voice.
When released from the dizzy embrace, I sat down on the carpet -
suddenly, without affectation. In this unpretentious attitude I
became aware that J. M. K. B. had followed me into the room,
elegant, fatal, correct and severe in a white tie and large shirt-
front. In answer to his politely sinister, prolonged glance of
inquiry, I overheard Dona Rita murmuring, with some confusion and
annoyance, "VOUS ETES BETE MON CHER. VOYONS! CA N'A AUCUNE
CONSEQUENCE." Well content in this case to be of no particular
The Mirror of the Sea |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Droll Stories, V. 1 by Honore de Balzac: and all come respectfully to salute this noble street, which commands
them. Where am I? For once in this street no one cares to come out of
it, so pleasant it is. But I owed this filial homage, this descriptive
hymn sung from the heart to my natal street, at the corners of which
there are wanting only the brave figures of my good master Rabelais,
and of Monsieur Descartes, both unknown to the people of the country.
To resume: the said Carandas was, on his return from Flanders,
entertained by his comrade, and by all those by whom he was liked for
his jokes, his drollery, and quaint remarks. The good hunchback
appeared cured of his old love, embraced the children, and when he was
alone with the dyer's wife, recalled the night in the clothes-chest,
Droll Stories, V. 1 |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Wheels of Chance by H. G. Wells: abruptly. "I'll go and ask Dangle," he said, shortly. "If you
wish it." And went striding into the station and down the steps,
leaving her in the road under the quiet inspection of the two
little boys, and with a kind of ballad refrain running through
her head, "Where are the Knights of the Olden Time?" and feeling
tired to death and hungry and dusty and out of curl, and, in
short, a martyr woman.
XXXI
It goes to my heart to tell of the end of that day, how the
fugitives vanished into Immensity; how there were no more trains
how Botley stared unsympathetically with a palpable disposition
|
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 Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: "Monsieur, a king who has neither army nor money, as you
have heard my conversation with my brother Louis, has no
means of acting against a man like Monk."
"Yes, sire, that was your opinion, I know very well; but,
fortunately, for you, it was not mine."
"What do you mean by that?"
"That, without an army and without a million, I have done --
I, myself -- what your majesty thought could alone be done
with an army and a million."
"How! What do you say? What have you done?"
"What have I done? Eh! well, sire, I went yonder to take
Ten Years Later |
