| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Camille by Alexandre Dumas: acceptance, and such an interpretation must not tarnish the name
which we bear. No one would consider whether Armand loves you,
whether you love him, whether this mutual love means happiness to
him and redemption to you; they would see only one thing, that
Armand Duval allowed a kept woman (forgive me, my child, for what
I am forced to say to you) to sell all she had for him. Then the
day of reproaches and regrets would arrive, be sure, for you or
for others, and you would both bear a chain that you could not
sever. What would you do then? Your youth would be lost, my son's
future destroyed; and I, his father, should receive from only one
of my children the recompense that I look for from both.
Camille |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: "The people in Berlin," said he, "get up early in the morning and
go to their business, while the people in Paris get up in the
evening and go to the theatre."
This may have been a bit exaggerated, but it indicated that the
Prince did not travel, as many do on their first trip, with his
mouth open and his eyes closed.
After his return to Peking he purchased a brougham, as did most
of the other leading officials and princes at the close of the
Boxer troubles, and driving about in this carriage, he has been a
familiar figure from that time until the present. As straws show
the direction of the wind, these incidents ought to indicate that
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Horse's Tale by Mark Twain: Indians always rechristen a stranger early. Thunder-Bird attended
to her case. He gave her the Indian equivalent for firebug, or
fire-fly. He said:
"'Times, ver' quiet, ver' soft, like summer night, but when she mad
she blaze."
Isn't it good? Can't you see the flare? She's beautiful, mother,
beautiful as a picture; and there is a touch of you in her face,
and of her father - poor George! and in her unresting activities,
and her fearless ways, and her sunbursts and cloudbursts, she is
always bringing George back to me. These impulsive natures are
dramatic. George was dramatic, so is this Lightning-Bug, so is
|
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 Letters of Two Brides by Honore de Balzac: real jealousy, the jealousy of the lover. A single indifferent glance
unnerves me. From time to time I say to myself, "Suppose he ceased to
love me!" And a shudder goes through me. I tremble before him, as the
Christian before his God.
Alas! Renee, I am still without a child. The time will surely come--it
must come--when our hermitage will need a father's and a mother's care
to brighten it, when we shall both pine to see the little frocks and
pelisses, the brown or golden heads, leaping, running through our
shrubberies and flowery paths. Oh! it is a cruel jest of Nature's, a
flowering tree that bears no fruit. The thought of your lovely
children goes through me like a knife. My life has grown narrower,
|
