| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: appeared.
All night long eighteen principal citizens did what their caste-
brother Richards was doing at the same time--they put in their
energies trying to remember what notable service it was that they
had unconsciously done Barclay Goodson. In no case was it a holiday
job; still they succeeded.
And while they were at this work, which was difficult, their wives
put in the night spending the money, which was easy. During that
one night the nineteen wives spent an average of seven thousand
dollars each out of the forty thousand in the sack--a hundred and
thirty-three thousand altogether.
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Underground City by Jules Verne: there is a man's hand in all that!"
Harry spoke with such energy that conviction came instantly and fully
to the engineer's mind. As to the old overman, he was already convinced.
Besides, there they were in the presence of an undeniable fact--
the stopping-up of cracks through which gas had escaped freely
the night before.
"Take your pick, Harry," cried Ford; "mount on my shoulders, my lad!
I am still strong enough to bear you!" The young man understood
in an instant. His father propped himself up against the rock.
Harry got upon his shoulders, so that with his pick he could reach
the line of the fissure. Then with quick sharp blows he attacked it.
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: about our sins! Powerful holy critter, he must be! Here, you rascal,
you make believe to be so pious,--didn't you never hear, out of yer
Bible, `Servants, obey yer masters'? An't I yer master? Didn't I
pay down twelve hundred dollars, cash, for all there is inside
yer old cussed black shell? An't yer mine, now, body and soul?" he
said, giving Tom a violent kick with his heavy boot; "tell me!"
In the very depth of physical suffering, bowed by brutal
oppression, this question shot a gleam of joy and triumph through
Tom's soul. He suddenly stretched himself up, and, looking earnestly
to heaven, while the tears and blood that flowed down his face
mingled, he exclaimed,
Uncle Tom's Cabin |
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 Pivot of Civilization by Margaret Sanger: problem of child-bearing to chance and blind instinct. It would be
untrue to say that among the civilized nations of the world to-day,
the profession of motherhood remains in a barbarous state. The bitter
truth is that motherhood, among the larger part of our population,
does not rise to the level of the barbarous or the primitive.
Conditions of life among the primitive tribes were rude enough and
severe enough to prevent the unhealthy growth of sentimentality, and
to discourage the irresponsible production of defective children.
Moreover, there is ample evidence to indicate that even among the most
primitive peoples the function of maternity was recognized as of
primary and central importance to the community.
|
