| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Amy Foster by Joseph Conrad: only remarked grimly, in a veiled blank voice, 'He
certainly won't get any other girl to marry him.'
"It is Miss Swaffer who has all the credit of the
munificence: but in a very few days it came out
that Mr. Swaffer had presented Yanko with a cot-
tage (the cottage you've seen this morning) and
something like an acre of ground--had made it
over to him in absolute property. Willcox expe-
dited the deed, and I remember him telling me he
had a great pleasure in making it ready. It re-
cited: 'In consideration of saving the life of my
Amy Foster |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Essays of Travel by Robert Louis Stevenson: said, in the trough of a gentle valley, with many great elms about
it. The smoke from its chimneys went up pleasantly in the afternoon
sunshine. The sleepy hum of a threshing-machine filled the
neighbouring fields and hung about the quaint street corners. A
little above, the church sits well back on its haunches against the
hillside - an attitude for a church, you know, that makes it look as
if it could be ever so much higher if it liked; and the trees grew
about it thickly, so as to make a density of shade in the churchyard.
A very quiet place it looks; and yet I saw many boards and posters
about threatening dire punishment against those who broke the church
windows or defaced the precinct, and offering rewards for the
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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 The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories by Mark Twain: and of unequaled magnanimity? why are you so very anxious that he
should become a relative of mine? Oh, gentlemen, I fear you yet
are tainted with the curiosity of our first parents, who were
beguiled by the poisonous kiss of an old ugly serpent, and who,
for one APPLE, DAMNED all mankind. I wish to divest myself, as far
as possible, of that untutored custom. I have long since learned
that the perfection of wisdom, and the end of true philosophy,
is to proportion our wants to our possessions, our ambition to
our capacities; we will then be a happy and a virtuous people."
Ambulinia was sent off to prepare for a long and tedious journey.
Her new acquaintances had been instructed by her father how to treat her,
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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 The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum: down, and then we can get the Scarecrow's clothes."
Now while the tinsmiths had been at work mending the Woodman
himself, another of the Winkies, who was a goldsmith, had made an
axe-handle of solid gold and fitted it to the Woodman's axe,
instead of the old broken handle. Others polished the blade until
all the rust was removed and it glistened like burnished silver.
As soon as he had spoken, the Tin Woodman began to chop, and in a
short time the tree fell over with a crash, whereupon the Scarecrow's
clothes fell out of the branches and rolled off on the ground.
Dorothy picked them up and had the Winkies carry them back to
the castle, where they were stuffed with nice, clean straw; and
The Wizard of Oz |
