| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Father Sergius by Leo Tolstoy: on many and prayed. Many recovered, and his fame spread more and
more.
So seven years passed in the Monastery and thirteen in his
hermit's cell. He now had the appearance of an old man: his
beard was long and grey, but his hair, though thin, was still
black and curly.
V
For some weeks Father Sergius had been living with one persistent
thought: whether he was right in accepting the position in which
he had not so much placed himself as been placed by the
Archimandrite and the Abbot. That position had begun after the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from New Arabian Nights by Robert Louis Stevenson: idle. I noted a little while ago that you have there, in the
corner, one of those monstrous constructions which your fellow-
countrymen carry with them into all quarters of the globe - in a
word, a Saratoga trunk. Until this moment I have never been able
to conceive the utility of these erections; but then I began to
have a glimmer. Whether it was for convenience in the slave trade,
or to obviate the results of too ready an employment of the bowie-
knife, I cannot bring myself to decide. But one thing I see
plainly - the object of such a box is to contain a human body.
"Surely," cried Silas, "surely this is not a time for jesting."
"Although I may express myself with some degree of pleasantry,"
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Wife, et al by Anton Chekhov: "Now hear what happened next. Some mischievous person drew a
caricature of Byelikov walking along in his goloshes with his
trousers tucked up, under his umbrella, with Varinka on his arm;
below, the inscription 'Anthropos in love.' The expression was
caught to a marvel, you know. The artist must have worked for
more than one night, for the teachers of both the boys' and
girls' high-schools, the teachers of the seminary, the government
officials, all received a copy. Byelikov received one, too. The
caricature made a very painful impression on him.
"We went out together; it was the first of May, a Sunday, and all
of us, the boys and the teachers, had agreed to meet at the
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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 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe: by such a vessel (for I remembered all the particulars to a title),
so many pieces of huckaback linen, so many ells of Dutch
holland and the like, in a box, and a hamper of flint glasses
from Mr. Henzill's glasshouse; and that the box was marked
I. C. No. 1, and the hamper was directed by a label on the
cording.
About an hour after, I came to the warehouse, found the
warehouse-keeper, and had the goods delivered me without
any scruple; the value of the linen being about #22.
I could fill up this whole discourse with the variety of such
adventures, which daily invention directed to, and which I
Moll Flanders |
