| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Montezuma's Daughter by H. Rider Haggard: as we passed it, was drawn behind us, shutting us off from the
hall.
Here we stood a while, with folded hands and downcast eyes, till a
signal was made to us to advance.
'Your report, nephew,' said Montezuma in a low voice of command.
'I went to the city of Tobasco, O glorious Montezuma. I found the
Teule and brought him hither. Also I caused the high priest to be
sacrificed according to the royal command, and now I hand back the
imperial signet,' and he gave the ring to a counsellor.
'Why did you delay so long upon the road, nephew?'
'Because of the chances of the journey; while saving my life, royal
Montezuma's Daughter |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Padre Ignacio by Owen Wister: The barkentine was only a coaster like many others which had begun to
fill the sea a little more of late years, and presently host and guest
were riding homeward. Side by side they rode, companions to the eye, but
wide apart in mood; within the turbulent young figure of Gaston dwelt a
spirit that could not be more at ease, while revolt was steadily kindling
beneath the schooled and placid mask of the Padre.
Yet still the strangeness of his situation in such a remote, resourceless
place came back as a marvel into the young man's lively mind. Twenty
years in prison, he thought, and hardly aware of it! And he glanced at
the silent priest. A man so evidently fond of music, of theaters, of the
world, to whom pressed flowers had meant something once--and now
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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 Odyssey by Homer: of his son, and also of his daughter, whom he was marrying to
the son of that valiant warrior Achilles. He had given his
consent and promised her to him while he was still at Troy, and
now the gods were bringing the marriage about; so he was sending
her with chariots and horses to the city of the Myrmidons over
whom Achilles' son was reigning. For his only son he had found
a bride from Sparta, {37} the daughter of Alector. This son,
Megapenthes, was born to him of a bondwoman, for heaven
vouchsafed Helen no more children after she had borne Hermione,
who was fair as golden Venus herself.
So the neighbours and kinsmen of Menelaus were feasting and
The Odyssey |
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 Duchesse de Langeais by Honore de Balzac: I not reason to reflect? Very well, I reflected. The
unseemliness of your conduct is not inexcusable; love lay at the
source of it; let me think so, and justify you to myself.--Well,
Armand, this evening, even while you were prophesying evil, I
felt convinced that there was happiness in store for us both.
Yes, I put my faith in the noble, proud nature so often tested
and proved." She bent lower. "And I was yours wholly," she
murmured in his ear. "I felt a longing that I cannot express to
give happiness to a man so violently tried by adversity. If I
must have a master, my master should be a great man. As I felt
conscious of my height, the less I cared to descend. I felt I
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