| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: feudal times there was a privileged class of soldier-farmers,--
free-holders,-- corresponding to the class of yeomen in England; and these
were called goshi.]
In Akinosuke's garden there was a great and ancient cedar-tree, under
which he was wont to rest on sultry days. One very warm afternoon he was
sitting under this tree with two of his friends, fellow-goshi, chatting and
drinking wine, when he felt all of a sudden very drowsy,-- so drowsy that
he begged his friends to excuse him for taking a nap in their presence.
Then he lay down at the foot of the tree, and dreamed this dream:--
He thought that as he was lying there in his garden, he saw a procession,
like the train of some great daimyo descending a hill near by, and that he
Kwaidan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne: instance,--That such a thing goes against his conscience,--always believe
he means exactly the same thing, as when he tells you such a thing goes
against his stomach;--a present want of appetite being generally the true
cause of both.
'In a word,--trust that man in nothing, who has not a Conscience in every
thing.
'And, in your own case, remember this plain distinction, a mistake in which
has ruined thousands,--that your conscience is not a law;--No, God and
reason made the law, and have placed conscience within you to determine;--
not, like an Asiatic Cadi, according to the ebbs and flows of his own
passions,--but like a British judge in this land of liberty and good sense,
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Breaking Point by Mary Roberts Rinehart: first time, impatient with his pleadings.
"I don't want to go over and over it, Wallie. I'll take the blame.
I should have done it long ago."
She was gentle, almost tender with him, but when he said she had
spoiled his life for him she smiled faintly.
"You think that now. And don't believe I'm not sorry. I am. I
hate not playing the game, as you say. But I don't think for a
moment that you'll go on caring when you know I don't. That doesn't
happen. That's all."
"Do you know what I think?" he burst out. "I think you're still
mad about Livingstone. I think you are so mad about him that you
The Breaking Point |
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 Intentions by Oscar Wilde: with practice. Who that moves in the stress and turmoil of actual
existence, noisy politician, or brawling social reformer, or poor
narrow-minded priest blinded by the sufferings of that unimportant
section of the community among whom he has cast his lot, can
seriously claim to be able to form a disinterested intellectual
judgment about any one thing? Each of the professions means a
prejudice. The necessity for a career forces every one to take
sides. We live in the age of the overworked, and the under-
educated; the age in which people are so industrious that they
become absolutely stupid. And, harsh though it may sound, I cannot
help saying that such people deserve their doom. The sure way of
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