| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas: with a calm clear voice, which, although low, made itself
perfectly heard amidst the respectful silence, which all at
once arrested the breath of fifty thousand spectators. --
"You know what has brought us here?
"A prize of one hundred thousand guilders has been promised
to whosoever should grow the black tulip.
"The black tulip has been grown; here it is before your
eyes, coming up to all the conditions required by the
programme of the Horticultural Society of Haarlem.
"The history of its production, and the name of its grower,
will be inscribed in the book of honour of the city.
The Black Tulip |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber: bruised feet. She was no longer conscious of cold. She ran
now, fleetly, lightly, the ground seeming to spur her on.
She had given up the trail completely now. She told herself
that if she ran on, down, down, down, she must come to the
valley sometime. Unless she was turned about, and headed in
the direction of one of those hideous chasms. She stopped a
moment, peering through the snow curtain, but she could see
nothing. She ran on lightly, laughing a little. Then her
feet met a projection, she stumbled, and fell flat over a
slab of wood that jutted out of the ground. She lay there a
moment, dazed. Then she sat up, and bent down to look at
Fanny Herself |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Taras Bulba and Other Tales by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: from his bed, seized a sheet, and, approaching the portrait, covered
it up completely.
Having done this, he lay done more at ease on his bed, and began to
meditate upon the poverty and pitiful lot of the artist, and the
thorny path lying before him in the world. But meanwhile his eye
glanced involuntarily through the joint of the screen at the portrait
muffled in the sheet. The light of the moon heightened the whiteness
of the sheet, and it seemed to him as though those terrible eyes shone
through the cloth. With terror he fixed his eyes more steadfastly on
the spot, as if wishing to convince himself that it was all nonsense.
But at length he saw--saw clearly; there was no longer a sheet--the
Taras Bulba and Other Tales |
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 Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker: all probability something unseen and unproved, but to be imagined,
also."
"For instance?" continued Adam.
"Let us take them SERIATIM. That to the east, where the trees are,
lower down--that was once the location of a Roman temple, possibly
founded on a pre-existing Druidical one. Its name implies the
former, and the grove of ancient oaks suggests the latter."
"Please explain."
"The old name translated means 'Diana's Grove.' Then the next one
higher than it, but just beyond it, is called 'MERCY'--in all
probability a corruption or familiarisation of the word MERCIA, with
Lair of the White Worm |
