| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Merry Men by Robert Louis Stevenson: 'I suppose not,' answered Jean-Marie.
'Neither do I like you,' returned the Doctor, roughly. 'I hate all
odd people, and you are the most curious little boy in all the
world.'
Jean-Marie seemed to ponder for a while, and then he raised his
head again and looked over at the Doctor with an air of candid
inquiry. 'But are not you a very curious gentleman?' he asked.
The Doctor threw away his stick, bounded on the boy, clasped him to
his bosom, and kissed him on both cheeks. 'Admirable, admirable
imp!' he cried. 'What a morning, what an hour for a theorist of
forty-two! No,' he continued, apostrophising heaven, 'I did not
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tapestried Chamber by Walter Scott: such agreeable circumstances.
The fresh horses, therefore, had only the brief task of conveying
the General's travelling carriage to Woodville Castle. A porter
admitted them at a modern Gothic lodge, built in that style to
correspond with the castle itself, and at the same time rang a
bell to give warning of the approach of visitors. Apparently the
sound of the bell had suspended the separation of the company,
bent on the various amusements of the morning; for, on entering
the court of the chateau, several young men were lounging about
in their sporting dresses, looking at and criticizing the dogs
which the keepers held in readiness to attend their pastime. As
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Christ in Flanders by Honore de Balzac: scattered east and west with ominous speed, a dim uncertain light from
the rift in the sky fell full upon the boat, and the travelers beheld
each other's faces. All of them, the noble and the wealthy, the
sailors and the poor passengers alike, were amazed for a moment by the
appearance of the last comer. His golden hair, parted upon his calm,
serene forehead, fell in thick curls about his shoulders; and his
face, sublime in its sweetness and radiant with divine love, stood out
against the surrounding gloom. He had no contempt for death; he knew
that he should not die. But if at the first the company in the stern
forgot for a moment the implacable fury of the storm that threatened
their lives, selfishness and their habits of life soon prevailed
|
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 Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: jealousy, but that, on the other hand, they provoked torments of
a different sort.
CHAPTER XVI.
"The children came rapidly, one after another, and there
happened what happens in our society with children and doctors.
Yes, children, maternal love, it is a painful thing. Children,
to a woman of our society, are not a joy, a pride, nor a
fulfilment of her vocation, but a cause of fear, anxiety, and
interminable suffering, torture. Women say it, they think it,
and they feel it too. Children to them are really a torture, not
The Kreutzer Sonata |
