| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from In a German Pension by Katherine Mansfield: like little green hairs. And she remembered having heard of a child who
had once played for a whole day in just such a meadow with real sausages
and beer for her dinner--and not a little bit of tiredness. Who had told
her that story? She could not remember, and yet it was so plain.
The wet clothes flapped in her face as she pegged them; danced and jigged
on the line, bulged out and twisted. She walked back to the house with
lagging steps, looking longingly at the grass in the meadow.
"What must I do now, please?" she said.
"Make the beds and hang the baby's mattress out of the window, then get the
wagon and take him for a little walk along the road. In front of the
house, mind--where I can see you. Don't stand there, gaping! Then come in
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: six-and-thirty. Feeling herself so wretched in the midst of a world of
festivity which to her was a blank, the poor little thing could no
longer understand the admiration she excited, or the envy of which she
was the object. Her face assumed a different expression. Melancholy,
tinged her features with the sweetness of resignation and the pallor
of scorned love. Ere long she too was courted by the most fascinating
men; but she remained lonely and virtuous. Some contemptuous words
which escaped her husband filled her with incredible despair. A
sinister flash showed her the breaches which, as a result of her
sordid education, hindered the perfect union of her soul with
Theodore's; she loved him well enough to absolve him and condemn
|
