| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Long Odds by H. Rider Haggard: struck with the silence of the place. No children began to chatter, and
no dogs barked. Nor could I see any native sheep or cattle. The place,
though it had evidently been inhabited of late, was as still as the bush
round it, and some guinea-fowl got up out of the prickly pear bushes
right at the kraal gate. I remember that I hesitated a little before
going in, there was such an air of desolation about the spot. Nature
never looks desolate when man has not yet laid his hand upon her breast;
she is only lonely. But when man has been, and has passed away, then
she looks desolate.
"Well, I passed into the kraal, and went up to the principal hut. In
front of the hut was something with an old sheep-skin kaross thrown over
Long Odds |
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 The Touchstone by Edith Wharton: again. "How much longer," he burst out, "do you suppose you can
stand it? You've been magnificent, you've been inspired, but
what's the use? You can't wipe out the ignominy of it. It's
miserable for you and it does HER no good!"
She lifted a vivid face. "That's the thought I can't bear!" she
cried.
"What thought?"
"That it does her no good--all you're feeling, all you're
suffering. Can it be that it makes no difference?"
He avoided her challenging glance. "What's done is done," he
muttered.
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