| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Hated Son by Honore de Balzac: kingdom of sand and shells, algae and verdure seemed to him a
universe, ever fresh and new.
Etienne imbibed all the benefits of this physical and absolutely
innocent life, this mental and moral life so poetically extended. A
child by form, a man in mind, he was equally angelic under either
aspect. By his mother's influence his studies had removed his emotions
to the region of ideas. The action of his life took place, therefore,
in the moral world, far from the social world which would either have
killed him or made him suffer. He lived by his soul and by his
intellect. Laying hold of human thought by reading, he rose to
thoughts that stirred in matter; he felt the thoughts of the air, he
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A treatise on Good Works by Dr. Martin Luther: these exercises must do no more than overcome unchastity, and not
pervert nature.
Above all this, the strongest defence is prayer and the Word of
God; namely, that when evil lust stirs, a man flee to prayer,
call upon God's mercy and help, read and meditate on the Gospel,
and in it consider Christ's sufferings. Thus says Psalm cxxxvii:
"Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth the little ones of
Babylon against the rock," that is, if the heart runs to the Lord
Christ with its evil thoughts while they are yet young and just
beginning; for Christ is a Rock, on which they are ground to
powder and come to naught.
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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 The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela: with perspiration. Finally he decided to finish his toast
at all costs. "Well, I ain't got much to tell you, except
that we are pals. . . ."
Then, since everyone had applauded at the end of Luis
Cervantes' speech, Anastasio having finished, made a
sign, and the company clapped their hands in great gravi-
ty.
But everything turned out for the best, since his awk-
wardness inspired others. Manteca and Quail stood up
and made their toasts, too. When Meco's turn came, War
Paint rushed in shouting jubilantly, attempting to drag a
The Underdogs |
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 Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: bedside when the voice spoke loud within me; but immediately I
rose, and took my staff, and gat me gone. Oh! that it were
permitted me to forget her woful look when I thus withdrew my
arm, and left her journeying through the dark valley alone! for
her soul was faint, and she had leaned upon my prayers. Now in
that night of horror I was assailed by the thought that I had
been an erring Christian and a cruel parent; yea, even my
daughter, with her pale, dying features, seemed to stand by me
and whisper, 'Father, you are deceived; go home and shelter your
gray head.' O Thou, to whom I have looked in my farthest
wanderings," continued the Quaker, raising his agitated eyes to
Twice Told Tales |
