| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Menexenus by Plato: truer proofs of motherhood in a country than in a woman, for the woman in
her conception and generation is but the imitation of the earth, and not
the earth of the woman. And of the fruit of the earth she gave a plenteous
supply, not only to her own, but to others also; and afterwards she made
the olive to spring up to be a boon to her children, and to help them in
their toils. And when she had herself nursed them and brought them up to
manhood, she gave them Gods to be their rulers and teachers, whose names
are well known, and need not now be repeated. They are the Gods who first
ordered our lives, and instructed us in the arts for the supply of our
daily needs, and taught us the acquisition and use of arms for the defence
of the country.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum: two legs, just as you have. That's one leg too
many, it seems to me."
"No," declared Dorothy, "it's just the right
number."
"You don't need them," argued the Hopper,
obstinately. "You've only one head, and one
body, and one nose and mouth. Two legs are
quite unnecessary, and they spoil one's shape."
"But how can you walk, with only one leg?" asked
Ojo.
"Walk! Who wants to walk?" exclaimed the man.
The Patchwork Girl of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne: Shekinah of the divine presence, as Chrysostom--the image of God, as Moses-
-the ray of divinity, as Plato--the marvel of marvels, as Aristotle--to go
sneaking on at this pitiful--pimping--pettifogging rate?
I scorn to be as abusive as Horace upon the occasion--but if there is no
catachresis in the wish, and no sin in it, I wish from my soul, that every
imitator in Great Britain, France, and Ireland, had the farcy for his
pains; and that there was a good farcical house, large enough to hold--aye-
-and sublimate them, shag rag and bob-tail, male and female, all together:
and this leads me to the affair of Whiskers--but, by what chain of ideas--I
leave as a legacy in mort-main to Prudes and Tartufs, to enjoy and make the
most of.
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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 Domestic Peace by Honore de Balzac: dowagers without success as to the blue lady's name, applied in
despair to the Comtesse de Gondreville, from whom he reached only this
unsatisfactory reply, "A lady whom the 'ancient' Duchesse de Lansac
introduced to me."
Turning by chance towards the armchair occupied by the old lady, the
lawyer intercepted the glance of intelligence she sent to the
stranger; and although he had for some time been on bad terms with
her, he determined to speak to her. The "ancient" Duchess, seeing the
jaunty Baron prowling round her chair, smiled with sardonic irony, and
looked at Madame de Vaudremont with an expression that made Montcornet
laugh.
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