| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells: but luckily I had hit as I meant, and it had died even as it leapt.
I crawled out from under its unclean weight and stood up trembling,
staring at its quivering body. That danger at least was over;
but this, I knew was only the first of the series of relapses that
must come.
I burnt both of the bodies on a pyre of brushwood; but after that I saw
that unless I left the island my death was only a question of time.
The Beast People by that time had, with one or two exceptions,
left the ravine and made themselves lairs according to their taste
among the thickets of the island. Few prowled by day, most of
them slept, and the island might have seemed deserted to a new-comer;
The Island of Doctor Moreau |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: without any direct aggression on his part, by a death equally
fearful and certain. She conceived, therefore, that some secret
prejudice, or the suspicions incident to age and misfortune, had
led Alice to form conclusions injurious to the character, and
irreconcilable both with the generous conduct and noble features,
of the Master of Ravenswood. And in this belief Lucy reposed her
hope, and went on weaving her enchanted web of fairy tissue, as
beautiful and transient as the film of the gossamer when it is
pearled with the morning dew and glimmering to the sun.
Her father, in the mean while, as well as the Master of
Ravenswood, were making reflections, as frequent though more
The Bride of Lammermoor |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Case of the Registered Letter by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: "The man who, in the name of the State, will conduct this case?"
asked Muller quickly.
"Yes, I believe it is so. Is it not an irony that this man, the
only one whom John really hated, should be the one to avenge him
now?"
"H'm! yes. But did you know of any friends in G-?"
"No, none at all."
"No friends whom he might have made while he was in America and
then met again in Germany?"
"No, he never spoke of any such to me. He told me that he made few
friends. He did not seek them for he was afraid that they might
|
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 Rezanov by Gertrude Atherton: his blood in stir. There was no moon. The islands
and promontories on the great sheet of water were
black save for the occasional glow of an Indian
camp-fire. There was not a sound but the lapping
of the waves, the roar of distant breakers. The
great silver stars and the little green stars looked
down upon a solitude that was almost primeval, yet
mysteriously disturbed by the restless currents in
the brain of a man who had little in common with
primal forces.
Rezanov was uneasy on more scores than one.
Rezanov |
