| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Gambara by Honore de Balzac: a garret; his coat was threadbare, his boots split, his hat shiny, and
his overcoat deplorably ancient. "Excellenza, that poor man is full of
talent, and incorruptibly honest. He was born into the wrong times,
for he tells the truth to everybody; no one can endure him. He writes
theatrical articles for two small papers, though he is clever enough
to work for the great dailies. Poor fellow!
"The rest are not worth mentioning, and Your Excellency will find them
out," he concluded, seeing that on the entrance of the musician's wife
the Count had ceased to listen to him.
On seeing Andrea here, Signora Marianna started visibly and a bright
flush tinged her cheeks.
Gambara |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: which the others had been found. "I believe it must have been a cleverer
little puppy than the others, and crawled away by itself to see what the world
was like, and that is why Rudolph missed finding it."
Joseph put his hand to his ear and, listening carefully, concluded that
Tattine was right. "Now I'll tell you what I am going to do," he said; "I can
make just a little hole, large enough for a puppy to get through, without
taking out a foundation-stone, and I'm going to make it here, near where the
cry seems to come from. Then I am going to tie Betsy to this pillar of the
porch, and I believe she'll have sense enough to try and coax the little
fellow out, and if the is such an enterprising little chap as you think he'll
have sense enough to come out."
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: mode of attack was always from above, he always found me ready
with a hail of bullets. The battle must have lasted a minute
or more before the thing suddenly turned completely over in the
air and fell to the ground.
Bowen and I roomed together at college, and I learned a lot
from him outside my regular course. He was a pretty good
scholar despite his love of fun, and his particular hobby
was paleontology. He used to tell me about the various forms
of animal and vegetable life which had covered the globe during
former eras, and so I was pretty well acquainted with the
fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals of paleolithic times.
The People That Time Forgot |
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 Four Arthurian Romances by Chretien DeTroyes: disparaged and esteemed highly the prowess of his foe. The next
day he sees Cliges come back whiter than the fleur-delis, his
shield grasped tight by the inside straps and seated on his white
Arab steed, as he had planned the night before. Gawain, brave
and illustrious, seeks no repose on the battleground, but spurs
and rides forward, endeavouring as best he may to win honour in
the fray, if he can find an opponent. In a moment they will both
be on the field. For Cliges had no desire to hold back when he
overheard the words of the men who said: "There goes Gawain, who
is no weakling either on foot or ahorse. He is a man whom no one
will attack." When Cliges hears these words, he rushes toward
|
