| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: witness for him... Bring the head here!"
So the head, still holding in its teeth the koromo that had been stripped
from Kwairyo's shoulders, was put before the judges. The old man turned it
round and round, carefully examined it, and discovered, on the nape of its
neck, several strange red characters. He called the attention of his
colleagues to these, and also bad them observe that the edges of the neck
nowhere presented the appearance of having been cut by any weapon. On the
contrary, the line of leverance was smooth as the line at which a falling
leaf detaches itself from the stem... Then said the elder: --
"I am quite sure that the priest told us nothing but the truth. This is
the head of a Rokuro-Kubi. In the book Nan-ho-i-butsu-shi it is written
Kwaidan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: balustrades, the trees, the glimpses of the valleys! to be hated where
I once was loved--the thought was intolerable to me. So, from the
first, my mind was made up.
Alas! alas! was this the end of the keenest love that ever entered the
heart of man? To the eyes of strangers my conduct might be
reprehensible, but it had the sanction of my own conscience. It is
thus that the noblest feelings, the sublimest dramas of our youth must
end. We start at dawn, as I from Tours to Clochegourde, we clutch the
world, our hearts hungry for love; then, when our treasure is in the
crucible, when we mingle with men and circumstances, all becomes
gradually debased and we find but little gold among the ashes. Such is
The Lily of the Valley |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from King James Bible: DEU 32:20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what
their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in
whom is no faith.
DEU 32:21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God;
they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them
to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to
anger with a foolish nation.
DEU 32:22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the
lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on
fire the foundations of the mountains.
DEU 32:23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows
King James Bible |
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 Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: months. She was taken into the palace, and being a widow, she
neither wears bright colours nor uses cosmetics. She is a fine
scholar, very devout, and spends much of her time in studying the
Buddhist classics. She is considered the most beautiful of the
court ladies.
The Empress Dowager took charge of most of the domestic matters
of all her relatives, taking into the palace and associating with
her as court ladies some who were widowed in their youth, and
keeping constantly with her only those whom she has elevated to
positions of rank, or members of her own family. Nor was she too
busy with state affairs to stop and settle domestic quarrels.
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