| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Riverman by Stewart Edward White: their cups. But each of these rivermen had two or three hundred
dollars to "blow" as soon as possible. The pickings were good. Men
got rich very quickly at this business. And there existed this
great advantage in favour of the dive-keeper: nobody cared what
happened to a riverman. You could pound him over the head with a
lead pipe, or drug his drink, or choke him to insensibility, or rob
him and throw him out into the street, or even drop him tidily
through a trap-door into the river flowing conveniently beneath.
Nobody bothered--unless, of course, the affair was so bungled as to
become public. The police knew enough to stay away when the drive
hit town. They would have been annihilated if they had not. The
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ivanhoe by Walter Scott: ``Well, then''---said Isaac, panting and hesitating
between habitual love of gain and a new-born desire
to be liberal in the present instance, ``if I should
say that I would take eighty zecchins for the good
steed and the rich armour, which leaves me not a
guilder's profit, have you money to pay me?''
``Barely,'' said Gurth, though the sum demanded
was more reasonable than he expected, ``and it
will leave my master nigh penniless. Nevertheless,
if such be your least offer, I must be content.''
``Fill thyself another goblet of wine,'' said the
Ivanhoe |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum: asked Ruggedo.
"Yes, I would," replied Kiki Aru; "but you want to be king yourself,
and we would quarrel over it."
"No," said the Nome, trying to deceive him. "I don't care to be
King of Oz, come to think it over. I don't even care to live in that
country. What I want first is revenge. If we can conquer Oz, I'll
get enough magic then to conquer my own Kingdom of the Nomes, and I'll
go back and live in my underground caverns, which are more home-like
than the top of the earth. So here's my proposition: Help me conquer
Oz and get revenge, and help me get the magic away from Glinda and the
Wizard, and I'll let you be King of Oz forever afterward."
The Magic of Oz |
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 Laches by Plato: track, and not be lazy?
LACHES: Certainly, he should.
SOCRATES: And shall we invite Nicias to join us? he may be better at the
sport than we are. What do you say?
LACHES: I should like that.
SOCRATES: Come then, Nicias, and do what you can to help your friends, who
are tossing on the waves of argument, and at the last gasp: you see our
extremity, and may save us and also settle your own opinion, if you will
tell us what you think about courage.
NICIAS: I have been thinking, Socrates, that you and Laches are not
defining courage in the right way; for you have forgotten an excellent
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