| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs: "I quite agree with you," replied the girl, "and I am not
offended at all. Dear old papa would sacrifice his life for me
without an instant's hesitation, provided one could keep his
mind on so frivolous a matter for an entire instant. There is
only one way to keep him in safety, and that is to chain him
to a tree. The poor dear is SO impractical."
"I have it!" suddenly exclaimed Clayton. "You can use a
revolver, can't you?"
"Yes. Why?"
"I have one. With it you and Esmeralda will be comparatively
safe in this cabin while I am searching for your father
Tarzan of the Apes |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Vailima Letters by Robert Louis Stevenson: those days. Remember that, the next time you think I regret
my exile. And however low the lights are, the stuff is true,
and I believe the more effective; after all, what I wish to
fight is the best fought by a rather cheerless presentation
of the truth. The world must return some day to the word
duty, and be done with the word reward. There are no
rewards, and plenty duties. And the sooner a man sees that
and acts upon it like a gentleman or a fine old barbarian,
the better for himself.
There is my usual puzzle about publishers. Chatto ought to
have it, as he has all the other essays; these all belong to
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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 Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland by Olive Schreiner: lichens had hardly shown their stains upon the rocks, and man still raised
himself upwards with difficulty because the sinews in his thighs were weak.
In those days, which men reck not of now, man, when he hungered, fed on the
flesh of his fellow man and found it sweet. Yet even in those days it came
to pass that there was one whose head was higher than her fellows and her
thought keener, and, as she picked the flesh from a human skull, she
pondered. And so it came to pass the next night, when men were gathered
around the fire ready to eat, that she stole away, and when they went to
the tree where the victim was bound, they found him gone. And they cried
one to another, 'She, only she, has done this, who has always said, 'I like
not the taste of man-flesh; men are too like me; I cannot eat them.' 'She
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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 Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: inscription stating that Akiko had died at the age of eighteen. Apparently
the tomb had been erected about fifty years previously: moss had begun to
gather upon it. But it had been well cared for: there were fresh flowers
before it; and the water-tank had recently been filled.
On returning to the sick room, the young man was shocked by the
announcement that his uncle had ceased to breathe. Death had come to the
sleeper painlessly; and the dead face smiled.
The young man told his mother of what he had seen in the cemetery.
"Ah!" exclaimed the widow, "then it must have been Akiko!"...
But who was Akiko, mother?" the nephew asked.
The widow answered:--
Kwaidan |
