| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini: see how I shall befriend and protect him."
That said, he took his leave and went, but he left behind him a shrewd
seed of fear in Richard's mind, and of the growth that sprang from it
Richard almost unconsciously transplanted something in the days that
followed into the heart of Ruth. As a result, to make sure that no
harm should come to her brother, the last of his name and race, she
resolved to receive Sir Rowland, resolved in spite of Diana's outspoken
scorn, in spite of Richard's protests - for though afraid, yet he would
not have it so - in spite even of her own deep repugnance of the man.
Days passed and grew to weeks. Bridgwater was settling down to peace
again - to peace and mourning; the Royalist scourge had spread to
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: be one. Now, lest you should know nothing about him, let me tell
you that at his own expense he fitted out a vessel, and established
himself at Borneo, where he soon acquired so great [an] ascendancy
over the native Rajah, that he insisted on resigning to him the
government of his province of Sarawak. Here, with only three
European companions, by moral and intellectual force alone, he
succeeded in suppressing piracy and civil war among the natives and
opened a trade with the interior of Borneo which promises great
advantages to England. . . . Everybody here has the INFLUENZA--a
right-down influenza, that sends people to their beds. Those who
have triumphed at their exemption in the evening, wake up perhaps in
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Research Magnificent by H. G. Wells: hard; it lies too heavy on the wound it has made. And in money
matters he could be generous. He must be generous. At least
financial worries need not complicate her distresses of desertion.
But to suggest such generosities on paper, in cold ink, would be
outrageous. And, in brief--he ought not to have gone there to
lunch. After that he began composing letters at a great rate.
Delicate--explanatory. Was it on the whole best to be
explanatory? . . .
It was going to be a tremendous job, this breaking with her. And it
had begun so easily. . . .
There was, he remembered with amazing vividness, a little hollow he
|
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 Stories From the Old Attic by Robert Harris: the presence of The Wise One and returned to his kingdom. It is not
recorded whether this advice was put into effect or whether it
helped the young ruler with his decision.
* * *
There are many other stories about The Wise One, just as there are
many other people with their own stories. But these shall suffice
to show how one old man exhausted the meager remnant of his days on
earth. Whether his life was spent well or ill perhaps even he
himself did not know.
On the Heroic Suffering of Mankind
A man stood philosophically on the prow of his ship, deeply inhaling
|
