| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Facino Cane by Honore de Balzac: you are really in the faubourg, among old people, working men and poor
women giving themselves up to a night's enjoyment.
The band consisted of a fiddle, a clarionet, and a flageolet from the
Blind Asylum. The three were paid seven francs in a lump sum for the
night. For the money, they gave us, not Beethoven certainly, nor yet
Rossini; they played as they had the will and the skill; and every one
in the room (with charming delicacy of feeling) refrained from finding
fault. The music made such a brutal assault on the drum of my ear,
that after a first glance round the room my eyes fell at once upon the
blind trio, and the sight of their uniform inclined me from the first
to indulgence. As the artists stood in a window recess, it was
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs: see a single, straight, slim figure standing erect in the
center of the line of prostrate girls, her arms folded
across her breast and little chin in the air. Her back was
toward me--I could not see her face, though I should like to
see the countenance of this savage young lioness, standing
there defiant among that herd of terrified sheep.
"Down! Down!" shouted the master of ceremonies, taking a
step toward her and half drawing his sword.
My blood boiled. To stand there, inactive, while a negro
struck down that brave girl of my own race! Instinctively I
took a forward step to place myself in the man's path. But
Lost Continent |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum: above it. A tent was also pitched for the Scarecrow's party; and when these
preparations had been made, with military precision and quickness, the army
retired to rest.
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Great was the amazement of Queen Jinjur next morning when her soldiers came
running to inform her of the vast army surrounding them. She at once climbed
to a high tower of the royal palace and saw banners waving in every
direction and the great white tent of Glinda standing directly before the
gates.
"We are surely lost!" cried Jinjur, in despair; "for how can our knitting-
needles avail against the long spears and terrible swords of our foes?"
The Marvelous Land of Oz |
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 My Antonia by Willa Cather: showing us very graphically just what she meant to do to Lena.
Mrs. Shimerda, leaning out of the window, enjoyed the situation keenly,
and was sorry when Antonia sent Mary away, mollified by an apronful
of bottle-tomatoes. Lena came out from Tony's room behind the kitchen,
very pink from the heat of the feathers, but otherwise calm.
She begged Antonia and me to go with her, and help get her cattle together;
they were scattered and might be gorging themselves in somebody's cornfield.
`Maybe you lose a steer and learn not to make somethings with your eyes
at married men,' Mrs. Shimerda told her hectoringly.
Lena only smiled her sleepy smile. `I never made anything to him with
my eyes. I can't help it if he hangs around, and I can't order him off.
My Antonia |
