| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Within the Tides by Joseph Conrad: be good and so on. . . Then he went crazy . . . screamed and threw
himself about, beat his head against the bulkheads . . . you can
guess all that - eh? . . . till he was exhausted. Gave up. Threw
himself down, shut his eyes, and wanted to pray. So he says.
Tried to think of some prayer for a quick death - he was that
terrified. Thought that if he had a knife or something he would
cut his throat, and be done with it. Then he thinks: No! Would
try to cut away the wood about the lock. . . He had no knife in his
pocket. . . he was weeping and calling on God to send him a tool of
some kind when suddenly he thinks: Axe! In most ships there is a
spare emergency axe kept in the master's room in some locker or
Within the Tides |
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 Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: That day she learned that his name was Luigi. Before separating, it
was agreed between them that if, on class-days when they could not see
each other, any important political event occurred, Ginevra was to
inform him by singing certain Corsican melodies then agreed upon.
The following day Mademoiselle Thirion informed all the members of the
class, under pledge of secrecy that Ginevra di Piombo had a lover, a
young man who came during the hours for the lesson, and concealed
himself in the garret beyond the studio.
"You, who take her part," she said to Mademoiselle Roguin, "watch her
carefully, and you will see how she spends her time."
Ginevra was, therefore, observed with diabolical attention. They
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