| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: suddenly with the music and stood there looking straight into
each other's eyes. It was Gahan of Gathol who spoke first.
"Tara of Helium, I love you!" he said.
The girl drew herself to her full height. "The Jed of Gathol
forgets himself," she exclaimed haughtily.
"The Jed of Gathol would forget everything but you, Tara of
Helium," he replied. Fiercely he pressed the soft hand that he
still retained from the last position of the dance. "I love you,
Tara of Helium," he repeated. "Why should your ears refuse to
hear what your eyes but just now did not refuse to see--and
answer?"
The Chessmen of Mars |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Rezanov by Gertrude Atherton: excellency, and I must not be selfish."
"I will release you if you are tired, but otherwise
I shall do myself the honor to waltz with your
friend later."
"I must look after my other guests," she said
coldly; and he was led with what grace he could
summon to the fair but sulky Rafaella.
"How am I to help flirting with that girl?" he
thought as he mechanically guided another light and
graceful partner through the crowded room. "If
she were one girl I might resist. But since eleven
Rezanov |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: many times to mistake it."
"I was afeared Girty hed your friends, the sisters, an' mebbe your brother,
too. Jack Zane said the renegade was hangin' round the village, an' that
couldn't be fer no good."
"Come on. Let's kill the fiend!" cried Joe, white to the lips.
"I calkilate they're about a mile down stream, makin' camp fer the night. I
know the place. There's a fine spring, an, look! D'ye see them crows flyin'
round thet big oak with the bleached top? Hear them cawin'? You might think
they was chasin' a hawk, or king-birds were arter 'em, but thet fuss they're
makin' is because they see Injuns."
"Well?" asked Joe, impatiently.
The Spirit of the Border |
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 Red Inn by Honore de Balzac: I don't know which has the strongest power of attraction, vengeance or
crime, hatred or insult. Like a priest who cannot consecrate the host
in presence of an evil spirit, each is ill at ease and distrustful;
one is polite, the other surly, but I know not which; one colors or
turns pale, the other trembles. Often the avenger is as cowardly as
the victim. Few men have the courage to invoke an evil, even when just
or necessary, and men are silent or forgive a wrong from hatred of
uproar or fear of some tragic ending.
This introsusception of our souls and our sentiments created a
mysterious struggle between Taillefer and myself. Since the first
inquiry I had put to him during Monsieur Hermann's narrative, he had
|
