| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Montezuma's Daughter by H. Rider Haggard: breathless that I could scarcely speak, but at last in few words I
made shift to declare my name and rank, and your sad plight. By
now the two Tlascalans were upon us, and I called to the men of the
Otomie to protect us, and falling on the Tlascalans before they
knew that enemies were there, they killed one of them and took the
other prisoner. Then they made a litter, and placing you on it,
bore you without rest twenty leagues into the mountains, till they
reached this secret hiding place, and here you have lain three days
and nights. The Teules have searched for you far and wide, but
they have searched in vain. Only yesterday two of them with ten
Tlascalans, passed within a hundred paces of this cave and I had
Montezuma's Daughter |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Village Rector by Honore de Balzac: the middle of the lake, the largest of the three, into which the
overflowing water of the first was rippling with a sound that gave a
voice to that delightful landscape.
"You have done well to make me bid farewell to this ravishing nature
on such a day," she said, looking at the beauty of the trees, all so
full of foliage that they hid the shore. The only disapprobation her
friends allowed themselves was to show a gloomy silence; and
Veronique, receiving another glance from Monsieur Bonnet, sprang
lightly ashore, assuming a lively air, which she did not relinquish.
Once more the hostess, she was charming, and the Grossetete family
felt she was again the beautiful Madame Graslin of former days.
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Paz by Honore de Balzac: Cousin Betty
Ronquerolles, Marquis de
The Peasantry
Ursule Mirouet
A Woman of Thirty
Another Study of Woman
The Thirteen
The Member for Arcis
Rouvre, Marquis du
A Start in Life
Ursule Mirouet
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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 Tik-Tok of Oz by L. Frank Baum: stepped upon the stone (which you will guess was
connected with Kaliko's magnetic rubber wire) and
instantly shot upward like an arrow. General Cone
came next and met with a like fate, but the others
now noticed that something was wrong and with one
accord they halted the column and looked back
along the path.
There was Tik-Tok, still bounding from one
rubber rock to another, each time rising a less
distance from the ground. And there was General
Apple, bounding away in another direction, his
Tik-Tok of Oz |
