| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: Flanagan, and Ralph, after consulting each other.
"Good," said Mr. Fogg. "The train leaves for Dover at a
quarter before nine. I will take it."
"This very evening?" asked Stuart.
"This very evening," returned Phileas Fogg. He took out and
consulted a pocket almanac, and added, "As today is Wednesday,
the 2nd of October, I shall be due in London in this very room of
the Reform Club, on Saturday, the 21st of December, at a quarter
before nine p.m.; or else the twenty thousand pounds,
now deposited in my name at Baring's, will belong to you,
in fact and in right, gentlemen. Here is a cheque for the amount."
Around the World in 80 Days |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: and flies up again at each jerk of the cord.
The fowler waits, in the mild sunlight of the autumn morning.
Suddenly, great excitement in the cages. The Chaffinches chirp
their rallying-cry:
'Pinck! Pinck!'
There is something happening in the sky. The Sambe, quick! They
are coming, the simpletons; they swoop down upon the treacherous
floor. With a rapid movement, the man in ambush pulls his string.
The nets close and the whole flock is caught.
Man has wild beast's blood in his veins. The fowler hastens to the
slaughter. With his thumb, he stifles the beating of the captives'
The Life of the Spider |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Shakespeare: Therefore desire, of perfect'st love being made,
Shall neigh--no dull flesh--in his fiery race;
But love, for love, thus shall excuse my jade,--
'Since from thee going, he went wilful-slow,
Towards thee I'll run, and give him leave to go.'
LII
So am I as the rich, whose blessed key,
Can bring him to his sweet up-locked treasure,
The which he will not every hour survey,
For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure.
Therefore are feasts so solemn and so rare,
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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 Hated Son by Honore de Balzac: mythological allegories, the explanation of which could have been
found either in the Bible or Ovid's Metamorphoses. Take away the bed,
and the same tester would have served in a church for the canopy of
the pulpit or the seats of the wardens. The married pair mounted by
three steps to this sumptuous couch, which stood upon a platform and
was hung with curtains of green silk covered with brilliant designs
called "ramages"--possibly because the birds of gay plumage there
depicted were supposed to sing. The folds of these immense curtains
were so stiff that in the semi-darkness they might have been taken for
some metal fabric. On the green velvet hanging, adorned with gold
fringes, which covered the foot of this lordly couch the superstition
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