| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: Let two more Summers wither in their pride,
Ere we may thinke her ripe to be a Bride
Pari. Younger then she, are happy mothers made
Capu. And too soone mar'd are those so early made:
Earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she,
Shee's the hopefull Lady of my earth:
But wooe her gentle Paris, get her heart,
My will to her consent, is but a part,
And shee agree, within her scope of choise,
Lyes my consent, and faire according voice:
This night I hold an old accustom'd Feast,
Romeo and Juliet |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Schoolmistress and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov: and now you see he has laid hands on himself. There's no sense in
it, your honor, it's not right, and there's no making out what's
the meaning of it, merciful Lord! Say your father was rich and
you are poor; it is mortifying, there's no doubt about it, but
there, you must make up your mind to it. I used to live in good
style, too; I had two horses, your honor, three cows, I used to
keep twenty head of sheep; but the time has come, and I am left
with nothing but a wretched bag, and even that is not mine but
Government property. And now in our Nedoshtchotova, if the truth
is to be told, my house is the worst of the lot. Makey had four
footmen, and now Makey is a footman himself. Petrak had four
The Schoolmistress and Other Stories |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson: the mock oath; and he looked askance at me as he did so.
I saw that he had forgotten himself, and that he knew it. The
expression of his eye changed almost in the passing of the glance
from the significant to the appealing - from the look of an
accomplice to that of a culprit; and from that moment he became the
model of a well-drilled valet.
'Sky-blue scarlet?' repeated the lawyer. 'Is the fool delirious?'
'No,' said I; 'he is only reminding me of something.'
'Well - and I believe the fellow will be faithful,' said Romaine.
'So you are a friend of Mr. Anne's' too?' he added to Rowley.
'If you please, sir,' said Rowley.
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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 Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: front of this table again there was another about a foot high on
which were placed the sacrificial wine vessels, and before which
the guests knelt. As we entered I saw the gentlemen kneeling to
the left, while the ladies, separated from them by white
curtains, were kneeling to the right.
After we had seen the various customs without, I was taken into
the dining-room, where I sat down with the young Princess and her
two aunts, daughters of the Dowager. They were very kind and
polite, and did all in their power to make me feel at home. We
were attended by white-robed eunuchs, who knelt when they spoke
to the Princess. There was such a lot of them.
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