| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Maitre Cornelius by Honore de Balzac: festival of All-Saints. "He says he has been robbed again, but he
can't hang anybody this time unless he hangs himself. The old vagabond
came and asked me if, by chance, I had carried off a string of rubies
he wanted to sell me. 'Pasques-Dieu! I don't steal what I can take,' I
said to him."
"Was he frightened?" asked the barber.
"Misers are afraid of only one thing," replied the king. "My crony the
torconnier knows very well that I shall not plunder him unless for
good reason; otherwise I should be unjust, and I have never done
anything but what is just and necessary."
"And yet that old brigand overcharges you," said the barber.
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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 Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey: anythin' wuss than a rough ride."
Nels smiled reassuringly at Madeline, but he did not speak to
her. Monty took her canteen and filled it at the spring and hung
it over the pommel of her saddle. He put a couple of biscuits in
the saddle-bag.
"Don't fergit to take a drink an' a bite as you're ridin' along,"
he said. "An' don't worry, Miss Majesty. Stewart'll be with you,
an' me an' Nels hangin' on the back-trail."
His somber and sullen face did not change in its strange
intensity, but the look in his eyes Madeline felt she would never
forget. Left alone with these three men, now stripped of all
The Light of Western Stars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy: palm of her hand, and then she could perceive that it
was red. The oblong white ceiling, with this scarlet
blot in the midst, had the appearance of a gigantic ace
of hearts.
Mrs Brooks had strange qualms of misgiving. She got
upon the table, and touched the spot in the ceiling
with her fingers. It was damp, and she fancied that it
was a blood stain.
Descending from the table, she left the parlour, and
went upstairs, intending to enter the room overhead,
which was the bedchamber at the back of the
Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman |
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 Padre Ignacio by Owen Wister: sat with Gaston, to sit alone and look up and down, now at the hills
above, and now at the ocean below. Among his parishioners he had certain
troubles to soothe, certain wounds to heal; a home from which he was able
to drive jealousy; a girl whom he bade her lover set right. But all said,
"The Padre is unwell." And Felipe told them that the music seemed
nothing to him any more; he never asked for his Dixit Dominus nowadays.
Then for a short time he was really in bed, feverish with the two voices
that spoke to him without ceasing. "You have given your life," said one
voice. "And, therefore," said the other, "have earned the right to go
home and die." "You are winning better rewards in the service of God,"
said the first voice. "God can be better served in other places,"
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