Village books

He will pass through the storm and no rain shall fall
upon his head. The wind will not displace a single fold of his garment.
He will go through fire and not be burned.'
Dr Porhoet ventured upon an explanation of these cryptic utterances.
'These ladies are unacquainted with the mysterious beings of whom you
speak, _cher ami_. They should know that during the Middle Ages
imagination peopled the four elements with intelligences, normally
unseen, some of which were friendly to man and others hostile. They were
thought to be powerful and conscious of their power, though at the same
time they were profoundly aware that they possessed no soul. Their life
depended upon the continuance of some natural object, and hence for them
there could be no immortality. They must return eventually to the abyss
of unending night, and the darkness of death afflicted them always. But
it was thought that in the same manner as man by his union with God had
won a spark of divinity, so might the sylphs, gnomes, undines, and
salamanders by an alliance with man partake of his immortality.


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