| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber: without a hen mother. A final dip, much scratching and
burrowing, during which armfuls of hay and excelsior were
thrown out, and then the red-headed genie of the barrel
would emerge, flushed and triumphant, with the water pitcher
itself, thus completing the happy family.
Aloysius, meanwhile, would regale her with one of those
choice bits of gossip he had always about him, like a jewel
concealed, and only to be brought out for the appreciative.
Mrs. Brandeis disapproved of store gossip, and frowned on
Sadie and Pearl whenever she found them, their heads close
together, their stifled shrieks testifying to his wit.
Fanny Herself |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Mansion by Henry van Dyke: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth."
That had been the text of the sermon a few weeks before.
Sleepily, heavily, he tried to fix his mind upon it and recall
it.
What was it that Doctor Snodgrass had said? Ah, yes--that it was
a mistake to pause here in reading the verse. We must read on
without
a pause--Lay not up treasures upon earth where moth and rust do
corrupt
and where thieves break through and steal--that was the true
doctrine.
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