| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Enchanted Island of Yew by L. Frank Baum: same instant and enjoying the dance equally. But if one youth asked
his partner a question, both the twins would make answer, and that was
sure to confuse and embarrass the youth. Still, the maids managed
very well to adapt themselves to the ways of people who were singular,
although they sometimes became a little homesick for Twi, where they
were like all the other people.
The bald-headed Ki kept watchful eyes on their youthful rulers, and
served them very cheerfully. But with all their travels and
experiences, the old men could never be convinced it was better to be
singular than double.
Prince Marvel was the real hero of the party, and Nerle received much
The Enchanted Island of Yew |
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 Red Inn by Honore de Balzac: "You are behaving like a young man, and very heedlessly," said my
neighbor. "Look at Taillefer!--there, seated on that sofa at the
corner of the fireplace. Mademoiselle Fanny is offering him a cup of
coffee. He smiles. Would a murderer to whom that tale must have been
torture, present so calm a face? Isn't his whole air patriarchal?"
"Yes; but go and ask him if he went to the war in Germany," I said.
"Why not?"
And with that audacity which is seldom lacking to women when some
action attracts them, or their minds are impelled by curiosity, my
neighbor went up to the purveyor.
"Were you ever in Germany?" she asked.
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