| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: yourself, I almost despair of telling you.'
'O, of course it's some rot about the tontine,' returned the
other. 'But it's the merest nonsense. We've lost it, and there's
an end.'
'I tell you,' said Morris, 'Uncle Masterman is dead. I know it,
there's a voice that tells me so.'
'Well, and so is Uncle Joseph,' said John.
'He's not dead, unless I choose,' returned Morris.
'And come to that,' cried John, 'if you're right, and Uncle
Masterman's been dead ever so long, all we have to do is to tell
the truth and expose Michael.'
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis: private life, trying to look dangerous while small boys yelped, "Get onto de
tin soldier!" and striking truck-drivers inquired tenderly, "Say, Joe, when I
was fighting in France, was you in camp in the States or was you doing Swede
exercises in the Y. M. C. A.? Be careful of that bayonet, now, or you'll cut
yourself!"
There was no one in Zenith who talked of anything but the strike, and no one
who did not take sides. You were either a courageous friend of Labor, or you
were a fearless supporter of the Rights of Property; and in either case you
were belligerent, and ready to disown any friend who did not hate the enemy.
A condensed-milk plant was set afire--each side charged it to the other--and
the city was hysterical.
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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 Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: was ignorant of his presence, and then undecided what course
it was best to take.
Nevertheless, he preserved his coolness of mind, and at last
resolved to deal plainly with Passepartout. If he did not find it
practicable to arrest Fogg at Hong Kong, and if Fogg made preparations
to leave that last foothold of English territory, he, Fix, would tell
Passepartout all. Either the servant was the accomplice of his master,
and in this case the master knew of his operations, and he should fail;
or else the servant knew nothing about the robbery, and then his interest
would be to abandon the robber.
Such was the situation between Fix and Passepartout. Meanwhile Phileas Fogg
Around the World in 80 Days |
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 Collection of Beatrix Potter by Beatrix Potter: tea, while we wait. Do you take
sugar, my dear Duchess?"
"Oh yes, please! my dear
Ribby; and may I have a lump
upon my nose?"
"With pleasure, my dear Duchess;
how beautifully you beg! Oh,
how sweetly pretty!"
Duchess sat up with the sugar
on her nose and sniffed--
"How good that pie smells! I
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