| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: at being called "father" by the tall, awkward, pumpkinheaded man, but to
deny the relationship would involve another long and tedious explanation; so
he changed the subject by asking, abruptly:
"Are you tired?"
"Of course not!" replied the other. "But," he continued, after a pause, "it
is quite certain I shall wear out my wooden joints if I keep on walking."
Tip reflected, as they journeyed on, that this was true. He began to regret
that he had not constructed the wooden limbs more carefully and
substantially. Yet how could he ever have guessed
40
that the man he had made merely to scare old Mombi with would be brought to
The Marvelous Land of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: The mulatto stood with his eyes fixed upon the two young men, like a
man who understood nothing, and who sought no less to divine something
from the gestures and movements of the lips.
"I am a public scribe and interpreter; I live at the Palais de
Justice, and am named Poincet."
"Good! . . . and this one?" said Henri to Poincet, looking towards the
mulatto.
"I do not know; he only speaks a sort of Spanish /patois/, and he has
brought me here to make himself understood by you."
The mulatto drew from his pocket the letter which Henri had written to
Paquita and handed it to him. Henri threw it in the fire.
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Hidden Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac: resistance, gave to this fancy of the youth a semblance of truth which
reacted upon his lively imagination. The old man worked on, muttering
half to himself, half to his neophyte:--
"Paf! paf! paf! that is how we butter it on, young man. Ah! my little
pats, you are right; warm up that icy tone. Come, come!--pon, pon,
pon,--" he continued, touching up the spots where he had complained of
a lack of life, hiding under layers of color the conflicting methods,
and regaining the unity of tone essential to an ardent Egyptian.
"Now see, my little friend, it is only the last touches of the brush
that count for anything. Porbus put on a hundred; I have only put on
one or two. Nobody will thank us for what is underneath, remember
|
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 La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac: which will not be paid to you till your wedding day, and on condition
of your marrying Gorenflot; but, to get married, you must hold your
tongue. If not, no wedding gift!'
" 'Rosalie,' said Madame de Merret, 'come and brush my hair.'
"Her husband quietly walked up and down the room, keeping an eye on
the door, on the mason, and on his wife, but without any insulting
display of suspicion. Gorenflot could not help making some noise.
Madame de Merret seized a moment when he was unloading some bricks,
and when her husband was at the other end of the room to say to
Rosalie: 'My dear child, I will give you a thousand francs a year if
only you will tell Gorenflot to leave a crack at the bottom.' Then she
La Grande Breteche |
