| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Father Damien by Robert Louis Stevenson: with all his weakness, essentially heroic, and alive with rugged
honesty, generosity, and mirth.
Take it for what it is, rough private jottings of the worst sides
of Damien's character, collected from the lips of those who had
laboured with and (in your own phrase) "knew the man"; - though I
question whether Damien would have said that he knew you. Take it,
and observe with wonder how well you were served by your gossips,
how ill by your intelligence and sympathy; in how many points of
fact we are at one, and how widely our appreciations vary. There
is something wrong here; either with you or me. It is possible,
for instance, that you, who seem to have so many ears in Kalawao,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville: their places that they come from. And they say that these beasts
be souls of worthy men that resemble in likeness of those beasts
that be fair, and therefore they give them meat for the love of
God; and the other beasts that be foul, they say be souls of poor
men and of rude commons. And thus they believe, and no man may put
them out of this opinion. These beasts above-said they let take
when they be young, and nourish them so with alms, as many as they
may find. And I asked them if it had not been better to have given
that relief to poor men, rather than to those beasts. And they
answered me and said, that they had no poor men amongst them in
that country; and though it had been so that poor men had been
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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 Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey: was a name by which she was familiarly known, though only those
nearest and dearest to her had the privilege of using it. And
now it revived her dulled faculties, and by an effort she
regained control of herself.
"You are Majesty Hammond," he replied; and this time he affirmed
wonderingly rather than questioned.
Madeline rose and faced him.
"Yes, I am."
He slammed his gun back into its holster.
"Well, I reckon we won't go on with it, then."
"With what, sir? And why did you force me to say Si to this
The Light of Western Stars |
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 Merry Men by Robert Louis Stevenson: home to the boy, perhaps for the first time, and he gave it words.
'How small it looks!' he sighed.
'Ay,' replied the Doctor, 'small enough now. Yet it was once a
walled city; thriving, full of furred burgesses and men in armour,
humming with affairs; - with tall spires, for aught that I know,
and portly towers along the battlements. A thousand chimneys
ceased smoking at the curfew bell. There were gibbets at the gate
as thick as scarecrows. In time of war, the assault swarmed
against it with ladders, the arrows fell like leaves, the defenders
sallied hotly over the drawbridge, each side uttered its cry as
they plied their weapons. Do you know that the walls extended as
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