| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Vailima Prayers & Sabbath Morn by Robert Louis Stevenson: it?' I asked. 'It is this,' was the reply; 'I am not yet fit to
say, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us."'
It is with natural reluctance that I touch upon the last prayer of
my husband's life. Many have supposed that he showed, in the
wording of this prayer, that he had some premonition of his
approaching death. I am sure he had no such premonition. It was I
who told the assembled family that I felt an impending disaster
approaching nearer and nearer. Any Scot will understand that my
statement was received seriously. It could not be, we thought,
that danger threatened any one within the house; but Mr. Graham
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Les Miserables by Victor Hugo: that strange mystery; of the eternity past, a mystery still
more strange; of all the infinities, which pierced their way into
all his senses, beneath his eyes; and, without seeking to comprehend
the incomprehensible, he gazed upon it. He did not study God;
he was dazzled by him. He considered those magnificent conjunctions
of atoms, which communicate aspects to matter, reveal forces by
verifying them, create individualities in unity, proportions in extent,
the innumerable in the infinite, and, through light, produce beauty.
These conjunctions are formed and dissolved incessantly;
hence life and death.
He seated himself on a wooden bench, with his back against a
Les Miserables |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad: itself in the obscurity amongst the rafters. The front wall was
cut in two by the doorway of a central passage closed by a red
curtain. The women's room opened into that passage, which led to
the back courtyard and to the cooking shed. In one of the side
walls there was a doorway. Half obliterated words--"Office:
Lingard and Co."--were still legible on the dusty door, which
looked as if it had not been opened for a very long time. Close
to the other side wall stood a bent-wood rocking-chair, and by
the table and about the verandah four wooden armchairs straggled
forlornly, as if ashamed of their shabby surroundings. A heap of
common mats lay in one corner, with an old hammock slung
Almayer's Folly |
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 Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs: of their jargon.
For over a month I remained a prisoner there, working from
morning until night at odd jobs about the headquarters
building of the commanding officer. The other prisoners
worked harder than I did, and I owe my better treatment
solely to the kindliness and discrimination of the old
colonel.
What had become of Victory, of Delcarte, of Taylor I could
not know; nor did it seem likely that I should ever learn.
I was most depressed. But I whiled away my time in
performing the duties given me to the best of my ability and
Lost Continent |
