| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: is very gracious of her.'
"Now La Palferine had a servant, a little Savoyard, aged ten, who
waited on him without wages. La Palferine called him Father Anchises,
and used to say, 'I have never seen such a mixture of besotted
foolishness with great intelligence; he would go through fire and
water for me; he understands everything--and yet he cannot grasp the
fact that I can do nothing for him.'
"Anchises was despatched to a livery stable with instructions to hire
a handsome brougham with a man in livery behind it. By the time the
carriage arrived below, La Palferine had skilfully piloted the
conversation to the subject of the functions of his visitor, whom he
|
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 A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde: the slow adder that crawled past.
And in the morning he rose up, and plucked some bitter berries from
the trees and ate them, and took his way through the great wood,
weeping sorely. And of everything that he met he made inquiry if
perchance they had seen his mother.
He said to the Mole, 'Thou canst go beneath the earth. Tell me, is
my mother there?'
And the Mole answered, 'Thou hast blinded mine eyes. How should I
know?'
He said to the Linnet, 'Thou canst fly over the tops of the tall
trees, and canst see the whole world. Tell me, canst thou see my
|
