| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lady Baltimore by Owen Wister: after reading John's note, I ordered from the North the handsomest old
china cake-dish that Aunt Carola could find to be sent to Miss Eliza La
Heu with my card. I wanted to write on the card, "Rira bien qui viva le
dernier"; but alas! so many pleasant thoughts may never be said aloud in
this world of ours. That I ordered china, instead of silver, was due to
my surmise that in Kings Port--or at any rate by Mrs. Weguelin and Miss
Josephine St. Michael--silver from any one not of the family would be
considered vulgar; it was only a surmise, and, of course, it was
precisely the sort of thing that I could not verify by asking any of
them.
But (you may be asking) how on earth did all this come about? What
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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 Odyssey by Homer: Then he spake to Piraeus, his trusty companion: 'Piraeus,
son of Clytius, thou that at other seasons hearkenest to me
above all my company who went with me to Pylos, even now, I
pray, lead this stranger home with thee, and give heed to
treat him lovingly and with worship in thy house till I
come.'
Then Piraeus, spearsman renowned, answered him saying:
'Telemachus, why, even if thou shouldest tarry here long,
yet will I entertain this man, and he shall have no lack of
stranger's cheer.'
Therewith he went on board, and bade his men themselves to
The Odyssey |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad: aspect of inebriety in their helpless attitudes. Only Nina's big
rocking-chair, standing black and motionless on its high runners,
towered above the chaos of demoralised furniture, unflinchingly
dignified and patient, waiting for its burden.
With a last scornful look towards the sleeper, Mrs. Almayer
passed behind the curtain into her own room. A couple of bats,
encouraged by the darkness and the peaceful state of affairs,
resumed their silent and oblique gambols above Almayer's head,
and for a long time the profound quiet of the house was unbroken,
save for the deep breathing of the sleeping man and the faint
tinkle of silver in the hands of the woman preparing for flight.
Almayer's Folly |
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 A Daughter of Eve by Honore de Balzac: than the cold logic of her husband? Madame de Vandenesse, completely
reassured, returned to her life of little enjoyments, clandestine
pressures of the hand, occasional quarrels,--in short, to her
nourishment of the year before, harmless in itself, but likely to drag
a woman over the border if the man she favors is resolute and
impatient of obstacles. Happily for her, Nathan was not dangerous.
Besides, he was too full of his immediate self-interests to think at
this time of profiting by his love.
But toward the end of December, when the second notes fell due, du
Tillet demanded payment. The rich banker, who said he was embarrassed,
advised Raoul to borrow the money for a short time from a usurer, from
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