| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Facino Cane by Honore de Balzac: outside my cell. I thought to make my escape by boring a hole through
the wall and swimming for my life. I based my hopes on the following
reasons.
"Every time that the jailer came with my food, there was light enough
to read directions written on the walls--'Side of the Palace,' 'Side
of the Canal,' 'Side of the Vaults.' At last I saw a design in this,
but I did not trouble myself much about the meaning of it; the actual
incomplete condition of the Ducal Palace accounted for it. The longing
to regain my freedom gave me something like genius. Groping about with
my fingers, I spelled out an Arabic inscription on the wall. The
author of the work informed those to come after him that he had loosed
|
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 Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: The Labyrinth Spider is better treated. After laying her eggs, so
far from becoming thin, she preserves an excellent appearance and a
round belly. Moreover, she does not lose her appetite and is
always prepared to bleed a Locust. She therefore requires a
dwelling with a hunting-box close to the eggs watched over. We
know this dwelling, built in strict accordance with artistic canons
under the shelter of my cages.
Remember the magnificent oval guard-room, running into a vestibule
at either end; the egg-chamber slung in the centre and isolated on
every side by half a score of pillars; the front-hall expanding
into a wide mouth and surmounted by a network of taut threads
The Life of the Spider |
