| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: firmly attached to each other, would be exposed to the risk of
disintegration. Although, therefore, the spreading of the volcanic matter
might not constitute a serious danger, any movement of the terrestrial
structure which should shake the island might entail the gravest
consequences.
"It seems to me," said Ayrton, who had reclined so as to place his ear to
the ground, "it seems to me that I can hear a dull, rumbling sound, like
that of a wagon loaded with bars of iron."
The colonists listened with the greatest attention, and were convinced
that Ayrton was not mistaken. The rumbling was mingled with a subterranean
roar, which formed a sort of rinforzando, and died slowly away, as if some
The Mysterious Island |
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 Virginian by Owen Wister: you're lookin' for my brass ear-rings. But there ain't no
earrings on me. I've been white for a hundred years. Step down.
I've a forty-dollar thirst."
"You're certainly white," began the Virginian. "But--"
Here the caboose resumed:
"I'm wild, and woolly, and full of peas;
I'm hard to curry above the knees;
I'm a she-wolf from Bitter Creek, and
It's my night to ho-o-wl--"
And as they howled and stamped, the wheels of the caboose began
to turn gently and to murmur.
The Virginian |
