| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Wrecker by Stevenson & Osbourne: some prefer a British ship, beastly food and all."
"O, the lime-juicers?" said he. "There's plenty booting in lime-
juicers, I guess; though I don't deny but what some of them are
soft." And with that he smiled like a man recalling something.
"Look here, that brings a yarn in my head," he resumed; "and
for the sake of the joke, I'll give myself away. It was in 1874, I
shipped mate in the British ship Maria, from 'Frisco for
Melbourne. She was the queerest craft in some ways that ever
I was aboard of. The food was a caution; there was nothing fit
to put your lips to--but the lime-juice, which was from the end
bin no doubt: it used to make me sick to see the men's dinners,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ferragus by Honore de Balzac: her hand on Jules' arm and leading him to the end of a long passage-
way, vaulted like a cellar, "go up the second staircase at the end of
the court-yard--where you will see the windows with the pots of pinks;
that's where Madame Etienne lives."
"Thank you, madame. Do you think she is alone?"
"Why shouldn't she be alone? she's a widow."
Jules hastened up a dark stairway, the steps of which were knobby with
hardened mud left by the feet of those who came and went. On the
second floor he saw three doors but no signs of pinks. Fortunately, on
one of the doors, the oiliest and darkest of the three, he read these
words, chalked on a panel: "Ida will come to-night at nine o'clock."
Ferragus |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: on the cover in rather irregular letters:--
BORN--I don't know when. DIED June 17th.
LAVERACK SETTERS NOT ALLOWED.
This she put securely into place, while Joey raked up a little about the spot,
and they left the little rabbit grave looking very neat and tidy. The next
morning Tattine ran out to see how the little wild-wood plant was growing, and
then she stood with her arms akimbo in blank astonishment. The little grave
had disappeared. She kicked aside the loose earth, and saw that box and Bunny
were both gone, and, not content with that, they had partially chewed up the
tombstone, which lay upon its face a little distance away. They, of course,
meant Betsy and Doctor. "There was no use in my putting: 'Laverack setters not
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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 Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: Rodion, the two Lytchkovs, and Volodka -- thought of the white
horses, the little ponies, the fireworks, the boat with the
lanterns; they remembered how the engineer's wife, so beautiful
and so grandly dressed, had come into the village and talked to
them in such a friendly way. And it seemed as though all that had
never been; it was like a dream or a fairy-tale.
They trudged along, tired out, and mused as they went. . . . In
their village, they mused, the people were good, quiet, sensible,
fearing God, and Elena Ivanovna, too, was quiet, kind, and
gentle; it made one sad to look at her, but why had they not got
on together? Why had they parted like enemies? How was it that
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