| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dracula by Bram Stoker: never caused to shed a tear, the dear fellow would fret his heart out.
I shall put a bold face on, and if I do feel weepy, he shall never see it.
I suppose it is just one of the lessons that we poor women have to learn.
. .
I can't quite remember how I fell asleep last night.
I remember hearing the sudden barking of the dogs and a lot
of queer sounds, like praying on a very tumultuous scale,
from Mr. Renfield's room, which is somewhere under this.
And then there was silence over everything, silence so profound
that it startled me, and I got up and looked out of the window.
All was dark and silent, the black shadows thrown by the
Dracula |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Enchanted Island of Yew by L. Frank Baum: like his tiny but ferocious dart-slingers; and still others imagined
him one of the barbarian tribe, or a fellow to the terrible Gray Men.
But, of course, no one knew positively, and all these guesses were
very wide of the mark. The only certainty about this king was that
his giants, dwarfs, barbarians and Gray Men meekly acknowledged his
rule and obeyed his slightest wish; for though they might be terrible
to others, their king was still more terrible to them.
Into this Kingdom of Spor Prince Marvel and Nerle had now penetrated
and, neither knowing nor caring where they were, continued along the
faintly defined paths the horses had found. Presently, however, they
were startled by a peal of shrill, elfish laughter, and raising their
The Enchanted Island of Yew |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Sons of the Soil by Honore de Balzac: general were not averse to Tonsard's wine, rendered attractive by
Tonsard's daughters; so the Grand-I-Vert held subterraneous
communication with the chateau through the servants, and knew
immediately everything that they knew. It is impossible either by
benefits or through their own self-interests, to break up the
perpetual understanding that exists between the servants of a
household and the people from whom they come. Domestic service is of
the masses, and to the masses it will ever remain attached. This fatal
comradeship explains the reticence of the last words of Charles the
groom, as he and Blondet reached the portico of the chateau.
CHAPTER IV
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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 Fables by Robert Louis Stevenson: to the maid.
In the meantime the elder son rode into the world to find the
touchstone of the trial of truth; and whenever he came to a place
of habitation, he would ask the men if they had heard of it. And
in every place the men answered: "Not only have we heard of it, but
we alone, of all men, possess the thing itself, and it hangs in the
side of our chimney to this day". Then would the elder son be
glad, and beg for a sight of it. And sometimes it would be a piece
of mirror, that showed the seeming of things; and then he would
say, "This can never be, for there should be more than seeming".
And sometimes it would be a lump of coal, which showed nothing; and
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