| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: come nigh; the trees had become old and sturdy and could bear the
drought better than when fresh-sprouted. So Necile's duties were
lessened, and time grew laggard, while succeeding years became more
tiresome and uneventful than the nymph's joyous spirit loved.
Truly the forest-dwellers did not lack amusement. Each full moon they
danced in the Royal Circle of the Queen. There were also the Feast of
Nuts, the Jubilee of Autumn Tintings, the solemn ceremony of Leaf
Shedding and the revelry of Budding Day. But these periods of
enjoyment were far apart, and left many weary hours between.
That a wood-nymph should grow discontented was not thought of by
Necile's sisters. It came upon her only after many years of brooding.
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Muse of the Department by Honore de Balzac: seems odd to unobserving persons, is really very natural. A poet, such
as you are, or a philosopher, an observer, like Doctor Bianchon,
instead of vilifying the provincial woman and believing her depraved,
would be able to guess the wonderful unrevealed poetry, every chapter,
in short, of the sweet romance of which the last phrase falls to the
benefit of some happy sub-lieutenant or some provincial bigwig."
"The provincial women I have met in Paris," said Lousteau, "were, in
fact, rapid in their proceedings--"
"My word, they are strange," said the lady, giving a significant shrug
of her shoulders.
"They are like the playgoers who book for the second performance,
The Muse of the Department |
