| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Amazing Interlude by Mary Roberts Rinehart: have her there.
"I have a lot of arrears to make up," he said. "I've got to get used to
having you where I can touch you. To-night when I go Upstairs I'm going
to take that damned colorless photograph of you and throw it out the
window."
"I must tell you about your photograph," she ventured. "It always stood
on the mantel over the stove, and when there was a threatened bombardment
I used to put it under -"
Let's not talk, honey."
When he came out of that particular silence he said abruptly:
"Will Leete is dead."
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy: to take place in the women's interviewing-room.
All this was known in the prison since the evening, and it was
being talked about with animation in all the cells.
Korableva, Khoroshevka, Theodosia, and Maslova sat together in
their corner, drinking tea, all of them flushed and animated by
the vodka they had drunk, for Maslova, who now had a constant
supply of vodka, freely treated her companions to it.
"He's not been a-rioting, or anything," Korableva said, referring
to Vasiliev, as she bit tiny pieces off a lump of sugar with her
strong teeth. "He only stuck up for a chum, because it's not
lawful to strike prisoners nowadays."
Resurrection |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela: his horse, bent down, kneeled, and gravely kissed the
ground.
The soldiers passed by without stopping. Some laughed
at the crazy man, others jested. Valderrama, deaf to all
about him, breathed his unctuous prayer:
"O Juchipila, cradle of the Revolution of 1910, 0
blessed land, land steeped in the blood of martyrs, blood
of dreamers, the only true men . . ."
"Because they had no time to be bad!" an ex-Federal
officer interjected as he rode.
Interrupting his prayer, Valderrama frowned, burst into
The Underdogs |
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 Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift: expensiveness of pride, vanity, idleness, and gaming in our
women: Of introducing a vein of parsimony, prudence and
temperance: Of learning to love our country, wherein we differ
even from Laplanders, and the inhabitants of Topinamboo: Of
quitting our animosities and factions, nor acting any longer like
the Jews, who were murdering one another at the very moment their
city was taken: Of being a little cautious not to sell our
country and consciences for nothing: Of teaching landlords to
have at least one degree of mercy towards their tenants. Lastly,
of putting a spirit of honesty, industry, and skill into our
shop-keepers, who, if a resolution could now be taken to buy only
A Modest Proposal |
