| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Herodias by Gustave Flaubert: the sand as it moves; like an abortion that never sees the light!
"And thou too, Moab! hide thyself in the midst of the cypress, like
the sparrow; in caverns, like the wild hare! The gates of the fortress
shall be crushed more easily than nut-shells; the walls shall crumble;
cities shall burn; and the scourge of God shall not cease! He shall
cause your bodies to be bathed in your own blood, like wool in the
dyer's vat. He shall rend you, as with a harrow; He shall scatter the
remains of your bodies from the tops of the mountains!"
Of which conqueror was he speaking? Was it Vitellius? Only the Romans
could bring about such an extermination. The people began to cry out:
"Enough! enough! let him speak no more!"
Herodias |
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 Massimilla Doni by Honore de Balzac: better. The hapless Italians are too much crushed by foreign dominion
to be fairly judged--for we have known yours," she added, with a
smile.
"It was more generous than Austria's," said the physician, eagerly.
"Austria squeezes and gives us nothing back, and you squeeze to
enlarge and beautify our towns; you stimulated us by giving us an
army. You thought you could keep Italy, and they expect to lose it--
there lies the difference.
"The Austrians provide us with a sort of ease that is as stultifying
and heavy as themselves, while you overwhelmed us by your devouring
energy. But whether we die of tonics or of narcotics, what does it
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