| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: since Bowen had been one of the most notorious practical jokers
of his alma mater. The truth was that as I sat in the Tyler
library at Santa Monica I commenced to feel a trifle foolish
and to wish that I had merely forwarded the manuscript by
express instead of bearing it personally, for I confess that I
do not enjoy being laughed at. I have a well-developed sense
of humor--when the joke is not on me.
Mr. Tyler, Sr., was expected almost hourly. The last steamer
in from Honolulu had brought information of the date of the
expected sailing of his yacht Toreador, which was now
twenty-four hours overdue. Mr. Tyler's assistant secretary,
The People That Time Forgot |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: who never had fathers. As a general rule, however, the worker is truly
feminine by her moral instincts only: she has all the tenderness, the
patience, and the foresight that we call "maternal;" but her sex has
disappeared, like the sex of the Dragon-Maiden in the Buddhist legend.
For defense against creatures of prey, or enemies of the state, the
workers are provided with weapons; and they are furthermore protected by a
large military force. The warriors are so much bigger than the workers (in
some communities, at least) that it is difficult, at first sight, to
believe them of the same race. Soldiers one hundred times larger than the
workers whom they guard are not uncommon. But all these soldiers are
Amazons,-- or, more correctly speaking, semi-females. They can work
Kwaidan |
