| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Golden Sayings of Epictetus by Epictetus: eyes. But if a Cynic is an object of pity, he seems a mere
beggar; all turn away, all are offended at him. Nor should he be
slovenly of look, so as not to scare men from him in this way
either; on the contrary, his very roughness should be clean and
attractive.
CXIX
Kings and tyrants have armed guards wherewith to chastise
certain persons, though they themselves be evil. But to the Cynic
conscience gives this power--not arms and guards. When he knows
that he has watched and laboured on behalf of mankind: that sleep
hath found him pure, and left him purer still: that his thoughts
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: bag; these consisted of pamphlets, critiques, and newspaper articles
mostly inimical to himself. He wandered about with these from house to
house. Everything he had of value he gave away to the poor. He ceased
work entirely. According to all accounts he spent his last days in
praying and fasting. Visions came to him. His death, which came in
1852, was extremely fantastic. His last words, uttered in a loud
frenzy, were: "A ladder! Quick, a ladder!" This call for a ladder--"a
spiritual ladder," in the words of Merejkovsky--had been made on an
earlier occasion by a certain Russian saint, who used almost the same
language. "I shall laugh my bitter laugh"[3] was the inscription
placed on Gogol's grave.
Dead Souls |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Cousin Pons by Honore de Balzac: see it, little cousin; but anxious, most of all, to please your dear
mamma."
Mme. de Marville, ignorant and vain, was unwilling to appear to
receive the slightest trifle from the parasite; and here her ignorance
served her admirably, she did not even know the name of Watteau. And,
on the other hand, if anything can measure the extent of the
collector's passion, which, in truth, is one of the most deeply seated
of all passions, rivaling the very vanity of the author--if anything
can give an idea of the lengths to which a collector will go, it is
the audacity which Pons displayed on this occasion, as he held his own
against his lady cousin for the first time in twenty years. He was
|
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 Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard: and yet intellectual face, sharpening, sharpening, sharpening
at the murderous-looking axe.
'Oh, the monster, the horrible man!' said the little French cook,
lifting his hands in amazement. 'See but the hole in his head;
the skin beats on it up and down like a baby's! Who would nurse
such a baby?' and he burst out laughing at the idea.
For a moment Umslopogaas looked up from his sharpening, and a
sort of evil light played in his dark eyes.
'What does the little "buffalo-heifer" [so named by Umslopogaas,
on account of his mustachios and feminine characteristics] say?
Let him be careful, or I will cut his horns. Beware, little
Allan Quatermain |
