| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Ursula by Honore de Balzac: bear. Though she was the soul of that great body called Minoret-
Levrault and led him about by his pug nose, she was made to feel the
fears which occasionally (we are told) assail all tamers of wild
beasts. She therefore made it a rule to get into a rage before he did;
the postilions knew very well when his wife had been quarreling with
him, for his anger ricocheted on them. Madame Minoret was as clever as
she was grasping; and it was a favorite remark in the whole town,
"Where would Minoret-Levrault be without his wife?"
"When you know what has happened," replied the post master, "you'll be
over the traces yourself."
"What is it?"
|
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 Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: Thistle-Eaters live this side of the mountains and are waited on by
giants."
"Oh no," said Dorothy, "it's the Herkus who have giant slaves, and the
Thistle-Eaters hitch dragons to their chariots."
"How could they do that?" asked the Woozy. "Dragons have long tails,
which would get in the way of the chariot wheels."
"And if the Herkus have conquered the giants," said Trot, "they must
be at least twice the size of giants. P'raps the Herkus are the
biggest people in all the world!"
"Perhaps they are," assented the Wizard in a thoughtful tone of voice.
"And perhaps the shepherd didn't know what he was talking about. Let
The Lost Princess of Oz |
