| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft: and fifty broad, and with many immense side passages leading away
into cryptical darkness.
Though this cavern was natural in appearance,
an inspection with both torches suggested that it had been formed
by the artificial destruction of several walls between adjacent
honeycombings. The walls were rough, and the high, vaulted roof
was thick with stalactites; but the solid rock floor had been
smoothed off, and was free from all debris, detritus, or even
dust to a positively abnormal extent. Except for the avenue through
which we had come, this was true of the floors of all the great
galleries opening off from it; and the singularity of the condition
At the Mountains of Madness |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Memories and Portraits by Robert Louis Stevenson: tune with his gray-bearded teacher's that a lesson may be learned.
I have known one old gentleman, whom I may name, for he in now
gathered to his stock - Robert Hunter, Sheriff of Dumbarton, and
author of an excellent law-book still re-edited and republished.
Whether he was originally big or little is more than I can guess.
When I knew him he was all fallen away and fallen in; crooked and
shrunken; buckled into a stiff waistcoat for support; troubled by
ailments, which kept him hobbling in and out of the room; one foot
gouty; a wig for decency, not for deception, on his head; close
shaved, except under his chin - and for that he never failed to
apologise, for it went sore against the traditions of his life.
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Snow Image by Nathaniel Hawthorne: children, were resolved to welcome the renowned warrior with a
salute of cannon and a public dinner; and all the more
enthusiastically, it being affirmed that now, at last, the
likeness of the Great Stone Face had actually appeared. An
aid-de-camp of Old Blood-and-Thunder, travelling through the
valley, was said to have been struck with the resemblance.
Moreover the schoolmates and early acquaintances of the general
were ready to testify, on oath, that, to the best of their
recollection, the aforesaid general had been exceedingly like the
majestic image, even when a boy, only the idea had never occurred
to them at that period. Great, therefore, was the excitement
The Snow Image |
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 The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: wife had such a heart, our life would be a para-
dise, instead of what it is now " And he wrote
the telegram,--
" To his Imperial Majesty, the Emperor.
"Your Majesty's loyal subject, the widow of Pe-
ter Nikolaevich Sventizky, murdered by the peas-
ants, throws herself at the sacred feet (this
sentence, when he wrote it down, pleased the con-
stable himself most of all) of your Imperial
Majesty, and implores you to grant an amnesty
to the peasants so and so, from such a province,
The Forged Coupon |
