| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Get to work, Til," commanded King Bal. "Panta has
just exploded."
The lady Loon picked up the bunch of skin and
examined it carefully until she discovered a hole in
one foot. Then she pulled a strand of string from her
sash, and drawing the edges of the hole together. she
tied them fast with the string, thus making one of
those curious warts which the strangers had noticed on
so many Loons. Having done this, Til Loon tossed the
bit of skin to the other Loons and was about to go away
when she noticed the prisoners and stopped to inspect
The Tin Woodman of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Snow Image by Nathaniel Hawthorne: as she does the waters of all meaner fountains.
While the moon was hanging almost perpendicularly over this spot,
two figures appeared on the summit of the hill, and came with
noiseless footsteps down towards the spring. They were then in
the first freshness of youth; nor is there a wrinkle now on
either of their brows, and yet they wore a strange, old-fashioned
garb. One, a young man with ruddy cheeks, walked beneath the
canopy of a broad-brimmed gray hat; he seemed to have inherited
his great-grandsire's square-skirted coat, and a waistcoat that
extended its immense flaps to his knees; his brown locks, also,
hung down behind, in a mode unknown to our times. By his side was
The Snow Image |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from An Episode Under the Terror by Honore de Balzac: was on his account.
"Why should our faith in God fail us, my sisters?" he said, in low but
fervent tones. "We sang His praises through the shrieks of murderers
and their victims at the Carmelites. If it was His will that I should
come alive out of that butchery, it was, no doubt, because I was
reserved for some fate which I am bound to endure without murmuring.
God will protect His own; He can do with them according to His will.
It is for you, not for me that we must think."
"No," answered one of the women. "What is our life compared to a
priest's life?"
"Once outside the Abbaye de Chelles, I look upon myself as dead,"
|
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 To-morrow by Joseph Conrad: My bonnie young girl,
We're bound to Rio Grande
"Capstan song," he explained. Her teeth chat-
tered.
"You are cold," he said. "Here's that affair
of yours I picked up." She felt his hands about
her, wrapping her closely. "Hold the ends to-
gether in front," he commanded.
"What did you come here for?" she asked, re-
pressing a shudder.
"Five quid," he answered, promptly. "We let
To-morrow |
