| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson: Tuileries they have dressed up some of the statues, broken some,
and stolen nothing but queer dresses. I say, Frank, you must not
hate the French; hate the Germans if you like. The French laugh at
us a little, and call out GODDAM in the streets; but to-day, in
civil war, when they might have put a bullet through our heads, I
never was insulted once.
'At present we have a provisional Government, consisting of Odion
[SIC] Barrot, Lamartine, Marast, and some others; among them a
common workman, but very intelligent. This is a triumph of liberty
- rather!
'Now then, Frank, what do you think of it? I in a revolution and
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: Hank, but Betsy loved him dearly because he was faithful and steady
and not nearly so stupid as most mules are considered to be. Betsy
had a saddle for Hank, and he declared she would ride on his back, an
arrangement approved by the Wizard because it left only four of the
party to ride on the seats of the Red Wagon--Dorothy and Button-Bright
and Trot and himself.
An old sailor man who had one wooden leg came to see them off and
suggested that they put a supply of food and blankets in the Red Wagon
inasmuch as they were uncertain how long they would be gone. This
sailor man was called Cap'n Bill. He was a former friend and comrade
of Trot and had encountered many adventures in company with the little
The Lost Princess of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Marie by H. Rider Haggard: both angered and amused me faintly, came to an end, for the Heer Marais
entered the place.
As might have been expected in so excitable a man, he was in a terrible
state of agitation. Thankfulness at the escape of his only, beloved
child, rage with the Kaffirs who had tried to kill her, and extreme
distress at the loss of most of his property--all these conflicting
emotions boiled together in his breast like antagonistic elements in a
crucible.
The resulting fumes were parti-coloured and overpowering. He rushed up
to me, blessed and thanked me (for he had learnt something of the story
of the defence), called me a young hero and so forth, hoping that God
Marie |
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 White Moll by Frank L. Packard: she halted before the street door of what fate, for the moment, had
thrust upon her as a home; and shivered again, as, with abhorrence,
she pushed the door open and stepped forward into the black,
unlighted hallway. Soul, mind and body were in revolt to-night.
Even faith, the simple faith in God that she had known since
childhood, was wavering. There seemed nothing but horror around
her, a mental horror, a physical horror; and the sole means of even
momentary relief and surcease from it had been a pitiful prowling
around the streets, where even the fresh air seemed to be denied to
her, for it was tainted with the smells of squalor that ruled,
rampant, in that neighborhood.
|
