| 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: hither, that I may seat you rightly, for if you should fall off
my heart would break."
Then up came Golden-Wing, and Bud was safely seated on the cushion
of violet-leaves; and it was really charming to see her merry little
face, peeping from under the broad brim of her cow-slip hat, as
her butterfly steed stood waving his bright wings in the sunlight.
Then came the bee with his yellow honey-bags, which he begged she
would take, and the little brown spider that lived under the great
leaves brought a veil for her hat, and besought her to wear it,
lest the sun should shine too brightly; while the ant came bringing a
tiny strawberry, lest she should miss her favorite fruit. The mother
Flower Fables |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: fought at Plevna, so are you and Gavryl fighting all the time,
only that your battles are far more disgraceful than that fought
at Plevna."
The old man went on: "And you call this living! and what a sin it
all is! You are a peasant, and the head of the house; therefore,
the responsibility of the trouble rests with you. What an
example you set your wife and children by constantly quarrelling
with your neighbor! Only a short time since your little boy,
Taraska, was cursing his aunt Arina, and his mother only laughed
at it, saying, 'What a bright child he is!' Is that right? You
are to blame for all this. You should think of the salvation of
The Kreutzer Sonata |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Enchanted Island of Yew by L. Frank Baum: save you, who are my friends, it will be because I can not save myself."
This speech pleased Prince Marvel greatly. He kissed the little
maid's hand respectfully and said:
"Fear nothing, your Highness. My friend and I are not so helpless as
you think. We consider it our privilege to protect and save you,
instead of your saving us; and we are really able to do this in spite
of the other High Ki and her entire army."
So they remained quietly in the palace the rest of that day, and no
one molested them in the least. In the evening the girl played and
sang for them, and the ancient pair of Ki danced a double-shuffle for
their amusement that nearly convulsed them with laughter. For one
The Enchanted Island of Yew |
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 Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson: And then, Dick, having explained how he was without them for the
moment, made himself bold to offer information every jot as good,
of his own knowledge. "And for mine own part, my lord duke," he
added, "an ye had men enough, I would fall on even at this present.
For, look ye, at the peep of day the watches of the night are over;
but by day they keep neither watch nor ward - only scour the
outskirts with horsemen. Now, then, when the night watch is
already unarmed, and the rest are at their morning cup - now were
the time to break them."
"How many do ye count?" asked Gloucester.
"They number not two thousand," Dick replied.
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