| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: regard to beer, which in my case was useless, for I could not touch
it. To go astray under such auspices would be worse than
inexcusable.
Landro we found a very different place from Cortina. Instead of
having a large church and a number of small hotels, it consists
entirely of one large hotel and a very tiny church. It does not
lie in a broad, open basin, but in a narrow valley, shut in closely
by the mountains. The hotel, in spite of its size, is excellent,
and a few steps up the valley is one of the finest views in the
Dolomites. To the east opens a deep, wild gorge, at the head of
which the pinnacles of the Drei Zinnen are seen; to the south the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Padre Ignacio by Owen Wister: And, oh, my dear boy, our organ is still worse. So old, so old! To get a
proper one I would sacrifice even this piano of mine in a moment--only
the tinkling thing is not worth a sou to anybody except its master. But
there! Are you quite comfortable?" And having seen to his guest's needs,
and placed spirits and cigars and an ash-tray within his reach, the Padre
sat himself comfortably in his chair to hear and expose the false
doctrine of Il Trovatore.
By midnight all of the opera that Gaston could recall had been played and
sung twice. The convert sat in his chair no longer, but stood singing by
the piano. The potent swing and flow of rhythms, the torrid, copious
inspiration of the South, mastered him. "Verdi has grown," he cried.
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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: piled, these rocks on which we now stand? The ages have been young and
they have grown old since they have lain here. Half that time shall not
pass before that time comes; I have seen its dawning already in the hearts
of men."
Peter moved nearer, so that he almost knelt at the stranger's feet: his
gun lay on the ground at the other side of the fire.
"I would like to be one of your men," he said. "I am tired of belonging to
the Chartered Company."
The stranger looked down gently. "Peter Simon Halket," he said, "can you
bear the weight?"
And Peter said, "Give me work, that I may try."
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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 The Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: the terrace. The Keeper also shuffled down towards the portal of
the great gate, without inviting Ravenswood to accompany him; and
thus he remained standing alone on the terrace, deserted and
shunned, as it were, by the inhabitants of the mansion.
This suited not the mood of one who was proud in proportion to
his poverty, and who thought that, in sacrificing his deep-
rooted resentments so far as to become Sir William Ashton's
guest, he conferred a favour, and received none. "I can forgive
Lucy," he said to himself; "she is young, timid, and conscious of
an important engagement assumed without her mother's sanction;
yet she should remember with whom it has been assumed, and leave
The Bride of Lammermoor |
