| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo: the galleys, those refrains called in the special vocabulary lirlonfa,
have had their birth?
Let him listen to what follows:--
There existed at the Chatelet in Paris a large and long cellar.
This cellar was eight feet below the level of the Seine. It had
neither windows nor air-holes, its only aperture was the door;
men could enter there, air could not. This vault had for ceiling
a vault of stone, and for floor ten inches of mud. It was flagged;
but the pavement had rotted and cracked under the oozing of the water.
Eight feet above the floor, a long and massive beam traversed this
subterranean excavation from side to side; from this beam hung,
Les Miserables |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from An Historical Mystery by Honore de Balzac: was openly envious; but, no matter how malignant he might be, he kept
within the limits of the law,--neither beyond it nor behind it, like a
parliamentary opposition. He believed his prosperity depended on the
ruin of others, and that whoever was above him was an enemy against
whom all weapons were good. A character like this is very common among
the peasantry.
Violette's present business was to obtain from Malin an extension of
the lease of his farm, which had only six years longer to run. Jealous
of the bailiff's means, he watched him narrowly. The neighbors
reproached him for his intimacy with "Judas"; but the sly old farmer,
wishing to obtain a twelve years' lease, was really lying in wait for
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Polity of Athenians and Lacedaemonians by Xenophon: mischief they liked, and to suffer no evil in return (as long as they
kept command of the sea), neither the ravaging of their territory nor
the expectation of an enemy's approach. Whereas at present the farming
portion of the community and the wealthy landowners are ready[17] to
cringe before the enemy overmuch, whilst the People, knowing full well
that, come what may, not one stock or stone of their property will
suffer, nothing will be cut down, nothing burnt, lives in freedom from
alarm, without fawning at the enemy's approach. Besides this, there is
another fear from which they would have been exempt in an island home
--the apprehension of the city being at any time betrayed by their
oligarchs[18] and the gates thrown open, and an enemy bursting
|
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 The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle: Young Partington poured forth the bright yellow wine and holding
the glass aloft, cried, "Here is to the health and long happiness
of my royal mistress, the noble Queen Eleanor; and may my journey
and her desirings soon have end, and I find a certain stout yeoman
men call Robin Hood."
At these words all stared, but presently the two stout yeomen
in Lincoln green began whispering together. Then one of the two,
whom Partington thought to be the tallest and stoutest fellow
he had ever beheld, spoke up and said, "What seekest thou of
Robin Hood, Sir Page? And what does our good Queen Eleanor wish of him?
I ask this of thee, not foolishly, but with reason, for I know
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood |
