| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Heritage of the Desert by Zane Grey: together, crowding the fence; their cries made a deafening dm.
The Indian shouted, but Jack could not understand him. A large black
object was visible in the shade of the ledge. Piute fired his carbine.
Before Jack could bring his rifle up the black thing moved into
startlingly rapid flight. Then spouts of red flame illumined the corral.
As he shot, Jack got fleeting glimpses of the bear moving like a dark
streak against a blur of white. For all he could tell no bullet took
effect.
When certain that the visitor had departed Jack descended into the
corral. He and Piute searched for dead sheep, but, much to their
surprise, found none. If the grizzly had killed one he must have taken
The Heritage of the Desert |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Amazing Interlude by Mary Roberts Rinehart: would never let her go. He was one great burst of joy, poor Henri. But
when she gently freed herself at last it was to deliver what seemed for
a time his death wound.
"You have paid me a great tribute," she said, still simply and gravely.
"I wanted you to kiss me, because of what you said. But that will have
to be all, Henri dear."
"All?" he said blankly.
"You haven't forgotten, have you? I - I am engaged to somebody else."
Henri stood still, swaying a little.
"And you love him? More than you care for me?"
"He is - he is my kind," said Sara Lee rather pitifully. "I am not what
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber: protesting and teasing. It was a good thing for them, these
nine o'clock bed hours, for it gave them the tonic sleep
that their young, high-strung natures demanded.
"Come, children," she would say, yawning.
"Oh, mother, please just let me finish this chapter!"
"How much?"
"Just this little bit. See? Just this."
"Well, just that, then," for Mrs. Brandeis was a reasonable
woman, and she had the book-lover's knowledge of the
fascination of the unfinished chapter.
Fanny and Theodore were not always honest about the bargain.
Fanny Herself |
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 In the Cage by Henry James: yet she could never really pluck even a daisy. What could still
remain fresh in her daily grind was the immense disparity, the
difference and contrast, from class to class, of every instant and
every motion. There were times when all the wires in the country
seemed to start from the little hole-and-corner where she plied for
a livelihood, and where, in the shuffle of feet, the flutter of
"forms," the straying of stamps and the ring of change over the
counter, the people she had fallen into the habit of remembering
and fitting together with others, and of having her theories and
interpretations of, kept up before her their long procession and
rotation. What twisted the knife in her vitals was the way the
|
