| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Collection of Antiquities by Honore de Balzac: in which a certain number of British females are gathered together.
The young men grew serious as a couple of clerks at the end of a
homily from headquarters before the receipt of an expected bonus.
The Duchess when she lost her heart to Victurnien had made up her mind
to play the part of romantic Innocence, a role much understudied
subsequently by other women, for the misfortune of modern youth. Her
Grace of Maufrigneuse had just come out as an angel at a moment's
notice, precisely as she meant to turn to literature and science
somewhere about her fortieth year instead of taking to devotion. She
made a point of being like nobody else. Her parts, her dresses, her
caps, opinions, toilettes, and manner of acting were all entirely new
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne: of a journey across the steppe without a beaten path, he
ought not to risk capture a second time by the Tartars. He
was just proposing to Nicholas to leave the road, when a
shot was heard on their right. A ball whistled, and the
horse of the kibitka fell dead, shot through the head.
A dozen horsemen dashed forward, and the kibitka was
surrounded. Before they knew where they were, Michael,
Nadia, and Nicholas were prisoners, and were being dragged
rapidly towards Nijni-Oudinsk.
Michael, in this second attack, had lost none of his pres-
ence of mind. Being unable to see his enemies, he had not
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Amy Foster by Joseph Conrad: at the frigid splendour of the sea, immense in
the haze, as if enclosing all the earth with all
the hearts lost among the passions of love and
fear.
"Physiologically, now," he said, turning away
abruptly, "it was possible. It was possible."
He remained silent. Then went on--
"At all events, the next time I saw him he was
ill--lung trouble. He was tough, but I daresay he
was not acclimatised as well as I had supposed. It
was a bad winter; and, of course, these mountain-
Amy Foster |
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 Redheaded Outfield by Zane Grey: Well-Well, famous from Boston to Baltimore as
the greatest baseball fan in the East. His singular
yell had pealed into the ears of five hundred
thousand worshippers of the national game and would
never be forgotten.
At sight of him I recalled a friend's baseball
talk. ``You remember Old Well-Well? He's all
in--dying, poor old fellow! It seems young Burt,
whom the Phillies are trying out this spring, is
Old Well-Well's nephew and protege. Used to
play on the Murray Hill team; a speedy youngster.
The Redheaded Outfield |
