| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Legend of Montrose by Walter Scott: want if there was a horned beast atween this and Perth. But this
is a warse job--it's nae less than a wager."
"A wager!" repeated Lord Menteith, with some surprise.
"Troth," continued Donald, to the full as eager to tell his news
as Lord Menteith was curious to hear them, "as your lordship is a
friend and kinsman o' the house, an' as ye'll hear eneugh o't in
less than an hour, I may as weel tell ye mysell. Ye sall be
pleased then to know, that when our Laird was up in England where
he gangs oftener than his friends can wish, he was biding at the
house o' this Sir Miles Musgrave, an' there was putten on the
table six candlesticks, that they tell me were twice as muckle as
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Heart of the West by O. Henry: from the red jar hanging under the brush shelter. Sandridge considered
it necessary to dismount so as to lessen the trouble of her
ministrations.
I play no spy; nor do I assume to master the thoughts of any human
heart; but I assert, by the chronicler's right, that before a quarter
of an hour had sped, Sandridge was teaching her how to plaint a
six-strand rawhide stake-rope, and Tonia had explained to him that
were it not for her little English book that the peripatetic /padre/
had given her and the little crippled /chivo/, that she fed from a
bottle, she would be very, very lonely indeed.
Which leads to a suspicion that the Kid's fences needed repairing, and
Heart of the West |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Prufrock/Other Observations by T. S. Eliot: Doubtful, for quite a while
Not knowing what to feel or if I understand
Or whether wise or foolish, tardy or too soon ...
Would she not have the advantage, after all?
This music is successful with a "dying fall"
Now that we talk of dying--
And should I have the right to smile?
Preludes
I
The winter evening settles down
With smell of steaks in passageways.
Prufrock/Other Observations |
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 Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: the 2nd of November.
Although it is not to be questioned that a genuine desire of doing an act
of kindness to his fellow-creatures was a leading motive of Servadac's
proposed visit to Gibraltar, it must be owned that another idea,
confided to nobody, least of all to Count Timascheff, had been conceived
in the brain of the worthy Gascon. Ben Zoof had an inkling that his
master was "up to some other little game," when, just before starting,
he asked him privately whether there was a French tricolor among the stores.
"I believe so," said the orderly.
"Then don't say a word to anyone, but fasten it up tight in your knapsack."
Ben Zoof found the flag, and folded it up as he was directed.
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