| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott: a clear, soft light, that only glowed more brightly when they laid
their hands upon it.
"O give us this!" cried they; "it is far lovelier than all the rest,
and does not melt away like them; and see how brilliantly it glitters
in our hands. If we may but have this, all will be well, and you
are once more free."
And Ripple, safe again beneath her snow flake, gladly gave
the chain to them; and told them how the pearls they now placed
proudly on their breasts were formed of tears, which but for them
might still be flowing. Then the Spirits smiled most kindly on her,
and would have put their arms about her, and have kissed her cheek,
Flower Fables |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from An Unsocial Socialist by George Bernard Shaw: that of a cat in distress. She ran to the door and listened.
Presently there arose a prolonged wail, slurring up through two
octaves, and subsiding again. It was a true feline screech,
impossible to localize; but it was interrupted by a sob, a snarl,
a fierce spitting, and a scuffling, coming unmistakably from a
room on the floor beneath, in which, at that hour, the older
girls assembled for study.
"My poor Gracchy!" exclaimed Mrs. Miller, running downstairs as
fast as she could. She found the room unusually quiet. Every girl
was deep in study except Miss Carpenter, who, pretending to pick
up a fallen book, was purple with suppressed laughter and the
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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 Wyoming by William MacLeod Raine: of listlessness, it apparently had not ambition enough to flick a
fly from its flank with its tail. Suddenly the bronco's ears
pricked, its sharp eyes dilated. A man was riding forward, the
loop of a lariat circling about his head. The rope fell true, but
the wily pony side-stepped, and the loop slithered to the ground.
Again the rope shot forward, dropped over the pony's head and
tightened. The roper's mustang braced its forefeet, and brought
the buckskin up short. Another rope swept over its head. It stood
trembling, unable to move without strangling itself.
A picturesque youth in flannel shirt and chaps came forward,
dragging blanket, saddle and bridle. At sight of him the horse
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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 Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: They have weathered the storm in some unimaginable way, while great trees
were being uprooted, and houses blown to fragments, and roads washed out of
existence. Yet, before the typhoon, they took no other visible precaution
than to block up the gates of their subterranean town. And the spectacle of
their triumphant toil to-day impels me to attempt an essay on Ants.
I should have like to preface my disquisitions with something from the old
Japanese literature,-- something emotional or metaphysical. But all that my
Japanese friends were able to find for me on the subject,-- excepting some
verses of little worth,-- was Chinese. This Chinese material consisted
chiefly of strange stories; and one of them seems to me worth quoting,--
faute de mieux.
Kwaidan |
