| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Animal Farm by George Orwell: wipe out the last traces of Jones's hated reign. The harness-room at the
end of the stables was broken open; the bits, the nose-rings, the
dog-chains, the cruel knives with which Mr. Jones had been used to
castrate the pigs and lambs, were all flung down the well. The reins, the
halters, the blinkers, the degrading nosebags, were thrown on to the
rubbish fire which was burning in the yard. So were the whips. All the
animals capered with joy when they saw the whips going up in flames.
Snowball also threw on to the fire the ribbons with which the horses'
manes and tails had usually been decorated on market days.
"Ribbons," he said, "should be considered as clothes, which are the mark
of a human being. All animals should go naked."
Animal Farm |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: All that night Sheeta, the panther, crouched upon the grisly
thing that had been Nikolas Rokoff. The bridge of the
Kincaid was slippery with blood. Beneath the brilliant
tropic moon the great beast feasted until, when the sun rose
the following morning, there remained of Tarzan's great enemy
only gnawed and broken bones.
Of the Russian's party, all were accounted for except Paulvitch.
Four were prisoners in the Kincaid's forecastle. The rest were dead.
With these men Tarzan got up steam upon the vessel, and with
the knowledge of the mate, who happened to be one of those surviving,
he planned to set out in quest of Jungle Island; but as the morning
The Beasts of Tarzan |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Twelve Stories and a Dream by H. G. Wells: me his dream. As a rule I hate people who tell their dreams, but
this struck me differently. I proffered assistance even. "It began--"
I suggested.
"It was vivid from the first. I seemed to wake up in it suddenly.
And it's curious that in these dreams I am speaking of I never
remembered this life I am living now. It seemed as if the dream
life was enough while it lasted. Perhaps--But I will tell you how
I find myself when I do my best to recall it all. I don't remember
anything dearly until I found myself sitting in a sort of loggia
looking out over the sea. I had been dozing, and suddenly I woke
up--fresh and vivid--not a bit dream-like--because the girl had
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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 A Start in Life by Honore de Balzac: "You needn't complain, for Fanny Beaupre told me you were coming to
dinner with Camusot, and to please you I've invited Tullia, du Bruel,
Mariette, the Duc de Maufrigneuse, Florine, and Nathan. So you'll have
the four loveliest creatures ever seen behind the foot-lights; we'll
dance you a 'pas de Zephire.'"
"It is enough to kill you to lead such a life!" cried old Cardot; "and
look at the broken glasses! What pillage! The antechamber actually
makes me shudder--"
At this instant the wrathful old gentleman stopped short as if
magnetized, like a bird which a snake is charming. He saw the outline
of a form in a black coat through the door of the boudoir.
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