| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: XV Hiawatha's Lamentation 76
XVI Pau-Puk-Keewis 81
XVII The Hunting of Pau-Puk-Keewis 86
XVIII The Death of Kwasind 93
XIX The Ghosts 96
XX The Famine 101
XXI The White Man's Foot 105
XXII Hiawatha's Departure 110
Vocabulary 115
Introductory Note
The Song of Hiawatha is based on the legends and stories of
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from La Grenadiere by Honore de Balzac: bright face, gliding like a shadow along the terraces. Great suffering
cannot be concealed. The vinedresser's household had grown quiet also.
Sometimes the laborer and his wife and children were gathered about
the door of their cottage, while Annette was washing linen at the
well-head, and Mme. Willemsens and the children sat in the summer-
house, and there was not the faintest sound in those gardens gay with
flowers. Unknown to Mme. Willemsens, all eyes grew pitiful at the
sight of her, she was so good, so thoughtful, so dignified with those
with whom she came in contact.
And as for her.--When the autumn days came on, days so sunny and
bright in Touraine, bringing with them grapes and ripe fruits and
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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 Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: be sure, and no on them."
While he thus meditated, he was engaged in fastening up his horse
in a shed. "Thou maun do without horse-sheet and surcingle now,
lad," he said, addressing the animal; "you and me hae had a
downcome alike; we had better hae fa'en i, the deepest pool o'
Tarras."
He was interrupted by the youngest of his sisters, who came
running out, and, speaking in a constrained voice, as if to
stifle some emotion, called out to him, "What are ye doing there,
Hobbie, fiddling about the naig, and there's ane frae Cumberland
been waiting here for ye this hour and mair? Haste ye in, man;
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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 The American by Henry James: that Valentin was dying down-stairs. Late, when the candle
had burnt low, there came a soft rap at his door.
The doctor stood there with a candlestick and a shrug.
"He must amuse himself, still!" said Valentin's medical adviser.
"He insists upon seeing you, and I am afraid you must come.
I think at this rate, that he will hardly outlast the night."
Newman went back to Valentin's room, which he found lighted
by a taper on the hearth. Valentin begged him to light a candle.
"I want to see your face," he said. "They say you excite me," he went on,
as Newman complied with this request, "and I confess I do feel excited.
But it isn't you--it's my own thoughts. I have been thinking--thinking.
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