| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela: partly a vague childish fear. Perceiving that Demetrio
eyed her like a beast of prey, Luis Cervantes congratu-
lated himself.
They made room for her between Luis Cervantes and
Blondie, opposite Demetrio.
Bottles of tequila, dishes of cut glass, bowls, porcelains
and vases lay scattered over the table indiscriminately.
Meco, carrying a box of beer upon his shoulders, came in
cursing and sweating.
"You don't know this fellow Blondie yet," said War
Paint, noticing the persistent glances he was casting at
The Underdogs |
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: auto-suggestion. Was it so serious because I thought it so? Or
had I a presentiment? I do not know. Perhaps, too, after what
has happened, all previous events have taken on a lugubrious tint
in my memory.
"I arrived at the steps. It was an hour past midnight. A few
isvotchiks were before the door, awaiting customers, attracted by
the lighted windows (the lighted windows were those of our parlor
and reception room). Without trying to account for this late
illumination, I went up the steps, always with the same
expectation of something terrible, and I rang. The servant, a
good, industrious, and very stupid being, named Gregor, opened
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 Manon Lescaut by Abbe Prevost: conduct towards us. He made, on his own part, the most submissive
excuses. `I say the less upon the subject,' said he, `because I
do not wish to recall a circumstance that fills me with grief and
shame.' If he were sincere in the beginning, he became much more
so in the end, for the conversation had not lasted half an hour,
when I perceived that Manon's charms had made a visible
impression upon him. His looks and his manner became by degrees
more tender. He, however, allowed no expression to escape him;
but, without even the aid of jealousy, I had had experience
enough in love affairs to discern what was passing.
"He remained with us till a late hour in the night, and before
|
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 Red Seal by Natalie Sumner Lincoln: stated 0' Ryan.
Penfield laid down his memorandum pad. "All right, O'Ryan; you may
retire," and at the words the policeman left the platform and the
room. He was followed by the police sergeant who had been on desk
duty at the Eighth Precinct on Tuesday morning. His testimony
simply corroborated O'Ryan's statement that the prisoner had done
and said nothing which would indicate that he was other than he
seemed - a housebreaker.
Coroner Penfield paused before calling the next witness and drank
a glass of ice water; the weather had turned unseasonably hot, and
the room in which inquests were held, was stifling, in spite of the
The Red Seal |
