| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: fountain, he is said to have met with the following singular
adventure: His horse, which was moving slowly forward, suddenly
interrupted its steady and composed pace, snorted, reared, and,
though urged by the spur, refused to proceed, as if some object
of terror had suddenly presented itself. On looking to the
fountain, Ravenswood discerned a female figure, dressed in a
white, or rather greyish, mantle, placed on the very spot on
which Lucy Ashton had reclined while listening to the fatal tale
of love. His immediate impression was that she had conjectured
by which path he would traverse the park on his departure, and
placed herself at this well-known and sequestered place of
The Bride of Lammermoor |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Criminal Sociology by Enrico Ferri: short terms of imprisonment, if they have not always produced a
good result, ought not to be abolished, but only applied in a more
suitable and efficacious manner.
The first objection will not weigh much with those who are guided
by the principles and method of the positive school. As M.
Gautier says, it is absolutely useless to dispute about
consequences when we start from premisses so opposed to each other
as retributive justice, according to which every fault demands a
proportional punishment--``fiat justitia pereat mundus''--and
social defence, according to which a justice without social
advantage is an unjust justice, afflicted with metaphysical
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: church.
"The bundle is ready," she continued, closing the
door after De Vac, who had now entered, "and here be
the key; but first let us have a payment. I know not
what thy foul work may be, but foul it is I know from
the secrecy which you have demanded, an' I dare say
there will be some who would pay well to learn the
whereabouts of the old woman and the child, thy sister
and her son you tell me they be, who you are so anxious
to hide away in old Til's garret. So it be well for you,
my Lord, to pay old Til well and add a few guilders
The Outlaw of Torn |
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 Droll Stories, V. 1 by Honore de Balzac: of it, to conquer it, to beat it, or to appease and extinguish it.
"What, my dear, you wish to be a mother?" said he; "you do not yet
know the business of a wife, you are not accustomed to being mistress
of the house."
"Oh! Oh!" said she, "to be a perfect countess, and have in my loins a
little count, must I play the great lady? I will do it, and
thoroughly."
Then Blanche, in order to obtain issue, began to hunt the fawns and
stags, leaping the ditches, galloping upon her mare over valleys and
mountain, through the woods and the fields, taking great delight in
watching the falcons fly, in unhooding them and while hunting always
Droll Stories, V. 1 |
