| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling: Baloo's word." He licked Mowgli's foot. "Remember, Bagheera
loved thee," he cried, and bounded away. At the foot of the hill
he cried again long and loud, "Good hunting on a new trail,
Master of the Jungle! Remember, Bagheera loved thee."
"Thou hast heard," said Baloo. "There is no more. Go now;
but first come to me. O wise Little Frog, come to me!"
"It is hard to cast the skin," said Kaa as Mowgli sobbed and
sobbed, with his head on the blind bear's side and his arms
round his neck, while Baloo tried feebly to lick his feet.
"The stars are thin," said Gray Brother, snuffing at the dawn
wind. "Where shall we lair to-day? for from now, we follow
The Second Jungle Book |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from An Old Maid by Honore de Balzac: feeble apparently, but inexhaustible. His hatred was that of a negro,
so peaceful that it deceived the enemy. His vengeance, brooded over
for fifteen years, was as yet satisfied by no victory, not even that
of July, 1830.
It was not without some private intention that the Chevalier de Valois
had turned Suzanne's designs upon Monsieur du Bousquier. The liberal
and the royalist had mutually divined each other in spite of the wide
dissimulation with which they hid their common hope from the rest of
the town. The two old bachelors were secretly rivals. Each had formed
a plan to marry the Demoiselle Cormon, whom Monsieur de Valois had
mentioned to Suzanne. Both, ensconced in their idea and wearing the
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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 Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde: beneath the Student's window.
"Give me a red rose," she cried, "and I will sing you my sweetest
song."
But the Tree shook its head.
"My roses are red," it answered, "as red as the feet of the dove,
and redder than the great fans of coral that wave and wave in the
ocean-cavern. But the winter has chilled my veins, and the frost
has nipped my buds, and the storm has broken my branches, and I
shall have no roses at all this year."
"One red rose is all I want," cried the Nightingale, "only one red
rose! Is there no way by which I can get it?"
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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 Facino Cane by Honore de Balzac: completely unnerved by all that had happened, that we were stupid, we
said not a word to each other, we waited till it should be safe to
enjoy ourselves at our ease. It was not wonderful that the rogue's
head was dizzy. You shall see how heavily God has punished me.
"I never knew a quiet moment until I had sold two-thirds of my
diamonds in London or Amsterdam, and held the value of my gold dust in
a negotiable shape. For five years I hid myself in Madrid, then in
1770 I came to Paris with a Spanish name, and led as brilliant a life
as may be. Then in the midst of my pleasures, as I enjoyed a fortune
of six millions, I was smitten with blindness. I do not doubt but that
my infirmity was brought on by my sojourn in the cell and my work in
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