| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Don Quixote by Miquel de Cervantes: urging Dapple forward he broke through them. But as he was passing,
one of them who had been examining him very closely rushed towards
him, and flinging his arms round him exclaimed in a loud voice and
good Spanish, "God bless me! What's this I see? Is it possible that
I hold in my arms my dear friend, my good neighbour Sancho Panza?
But there's no doubt about it, for I'm not asleep, nor am I drunk just
now."
Sancho was surprised to hear himself called by his name and find
himself embraced by a foreign pilgrim, and after regarding him
steadily without speaking he was still unable to recognise him; but
the pilgrim perceiving his perplexity cried, "What! and is it
Don Quixote |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft: through the reddish tubes of its starfish-shaped base. Cursorily,
one would say that its respiration apparatus handled oxygen rather
than carbon dioxide, and there were odd evidences of air-storage
chambers and methods of shifting respiration from the external
orifice to at least two other fully developed breathing systems
- gills and pores. Clearly, it was amphibian, and probably adapted
to long airless hibernation periods as well. Vocal organs seemed
present in connection with the main respiratory system, but they
presented anomalies beyond immediate solution. Articulate speech,
in the sense of syllable utterance, seemed barely conceivable,
but musical piping notes covering a wide range were highly probable.
At the Mountains of Madness |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Child of Storm by H. Rider Haggard: to-morrow, and Saduko has promised to lift me up high when the Prince is
declared heir to the throne."
"Which prince?" I asked.
"Umbelazi, Macumazahn. Who else? Umbelazi, who without doubt will
conquer Cetewayo."
"Why without doubt, Umbezi? Cetewayo has a great following, and if _he_
should conquer I think that you will only be lifted up in the crops of
the vultures."
At this rough suggestion Umbezi's fat face fell.
"O Macumazana," he said, "if I thought that, I would go over to
Cetewayo, although Saduko is my son-in-law. But it is not possible,
Child of Storm |
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 Man of Business by Honore de Balzac: exerted his ingenuity to scrape an acquaintance with Denisart, came up
with him in the street, and at length seized his opportunity to
remark, 'It is a fine day, sir!'
"Whereupon the retired official responded with, 'Austerlitz weather,
sir. I was there myself--I was wounded indeed, I won my Cross on that
glorious day.'
"And so from one thing to another the two drifted wrecks of the Empire
struck up an acquaintance. Little Croizeau was attached to the Empire
through his connection with Napoleon's sisters. He had been their
coach-builder, and had frequently dunned them for money; so he gave
out that he 'had had relations with the Imperial family.' Maxime, duly
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