| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne: here on a large scale. Although Perm, by its situation, has
become an important town, it is by no means attractive,
being extremely dirty, and without resources. This want
of comfort is of no consequence to those going to Siberia,
for they come from the more civilized districts, and are sup-
plied with all necessaries.
At Perm travelers from Siberia resell their vehicles, more
or less damaged by the long journey across the plains.
There, too, those passing from Europe to Asia purchase
carriages, or sleighs in the winter season.
Michael Strogoff had already sketched out his pro-
|
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 Myths and Myth-Makers by John Fiske: physical organism by changing the shape of it. The barbaric
werewolf is the product of a lower and simpler kind of
thinking. There is no diabolism about him; for barbaric races,
while believing in the existence of hurtful and malicious
fiends, have not a sufficiently vivid sense of moral abnormity
to form the conception of diabolism. And the cannibal craving,
which to the mediaeval European was a phenomenon so strange as
to demand a mythological explanation, would not impress the
barbarian as either very exceptional or very blameworthy.
In the folk-lore of the Zulus, one of the most quick-witted
and intelligent of African races, the cannibal possesses many
Myths and Myth-Makers |
