| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The White Moll by Frank L. Packard: It seemed to fan into flame a smoldering fire of passionate anger
in Rhoda Gray's soul. And before it panic fled. Her hand felt
upward for the next stair-tread, and she crept on again, as a face
seemed to rise before her - not the Sparrow's face - a woman's face.
It was a face that was crowned with very thin white hair, and its
eyes were the saddest she had ever seen, and yet they were brave,
steady old eyes that had not lost their faith; nor had the old,
care-lined face itself, in spite of suffering, lost its gentleness
and sweetness. And then suddenly it seemed to change, that face,
and become wreathed in smiles, and happy tears to run coursing down
the wrinkled cheeks. Yes, she remembered! It had brought the tears
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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 Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: accompaniment of the biwa."
Now the entire recital would have required a time of many nights:
therefore Hoichi ventured a question:--
"As the whole of the story is not soon told, what portion is it augustly
desired that I now recite?"
The woman's voice made answer:--
"Recite the story of the battle at Dan-no-ura,-- for the pity of it is the
most deep." [5]
Then Hoichi lifted up his voice, and chanted the chant of the fight on the
bitter sea,-- wonderfully making his biwa to sound like the straining of
oars and the rushing of ships, the whirr and the hissing of arrows, the
 Kwaidan |