| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: beautiful situation and a good inn. There I took my guide--a wiry
and companionable little man, whose occupation in the lower world
was that of a maker and merchant of hats--and set out for the
Pragerhutte, a shelter on the side of the Gross-Venediger.
The path led under the walls of the old Castle of Weissenstein, and
then in steep curves up the cliff which blocks the head of the
valley, and along a cut in the face of the rock, into the steep,
narrow Tauernthal, which divides the Glockner group from the
Venediger. How entirely different it was from the region of the
Dolomites! There the variety of colour was endless and the change
incessant; here it was all green grass and trees and black rocks,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen: earth melt and boil beneath such a burden?"
Villiers was pacing up and down the room, and the beads
of sweat stood out on his forehead. Austin sat silent for a
while, but Villiers saw him make a sign upon his breast.
"I say again, Villiers, you will surely never enter
such a house as that? You would never pass out alive."
"Yes, Austin, I shall go out alive--I, and Clarke
with me."
What do you mean? You cannot, you would not dare..."
"Wait a moment. The air was very pleasant and fresh
this morning; there was a breeze blowing, even through this dull
The Great God Pan |
