| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: "Patience, monseigneur, I beg of you. Here comes M. le Duc
d'Anjou, talking with the Chevalier de Lorraine; I should
not be surprised if they spared us the trouble of being
indiscreet. Listen to them."
In fact the chevalier said to the prince in a low voice, "My
lord, it is not natural for M. Mazarin to give you so much
money. Take care! you will let some of the pieces fall, my
lord. What design has the cardinal upon you to make him so
generous?"
"As I said," whispered Athos in the prince's ear; "that,
perhaps, is the best reply to your question."
Ten Years Later |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain: "You's young Marse _Tom_ fum dis out, en I got to practice and git used
to 'memberin' to call you dat, honey, or I's gwine to make a mistake
sometime en git us bofe into trouble. Dah--now you lay still en
don't fret no mo', Marse Tom. Oh, thank de lord in heaven, you's saved,
you's saved! Dey ain't no man kin ever sell mammy's po' little
honey down de river now!"
She put the heir of the house in her own child's unpainted pine cradle,
and said, contemplating its slumbering form uneasily:
"I's sorry for you, honey; I's sorry, God knows I is--but what _kin_ I do,
what _could_ I do? Yo' pappy would sell him to somebody, sometime,
en den he'd go down de river, sho', en I couldn't, couldn't,
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Apology by Plato: fulfil the philosopher's mission of searching into myself and other men, I
were to desert my post through fear of death, or any other fear; that would
indeed be strange, and I might justly be arraigned in court for denying the
existence of the gods, if I disobeyed the oracle because I was afraid of
death, fancying that I was wise when I was not wise. For the fear of death
is indeed the pretence of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being a pretence of
knowing the unknown; and no one knows whether death, which men in their
fear apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good. Is
not this ignorance of a disgraceful sort, the ignorance which is the
conceit that a man knows what he does not know? And in this respect only I
believe myself to differ from men in general, and may perhaps claim to be
|
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 Iliad by Homer: was a crew of fifty oarsmen. Over these he set five captains whom
he could trust, while he was himself commander over them all.
Menesthius of the gleaming corslet, son to the river Spercheius
that streams from heaven, was captain of the first company. Fair
Polydora daughter of Peleus bore him to ever-flowing
Spercheius--a woman mated with a god--but he was called son of
Borus son of Perieres, with whom his mother was living as his
wedded wife, and who gave great wealth to gain her. The second
company was led by noble Eudorus, son to an unwedded woman.
Polymele, daughter of Phylas the graceful dancer, bore him; the
mighty slayer of Argos was enamoured of her as he saw her among
The Iliad |
