| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas: "At the noise I raised myself up on one hand.
"'Well,' said a voice which vibrated in too terrible a manner in
my ear not to be recognized, 'well! Are we softened a little?
Will we not pay for our liberty with a single promise of silence?
Come, I am a good sort of a prince,' added he, 'and although I
like not Puritans I do them justice; and it is the same with
Puritanesses, when they are pretty. Come, take a little oath for
me on the cross; I won't ask anything more of you.'
"'On the cross,' cried I, rising, for at that abhorred voice I
had recovered all my strength, 'on the cross I swear that no
promise, no menace, no force, no torture, shall close my mouth!
The Three Musketeers |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Pupil by Henry James: young man in his service was more so than there was any reason for.
Neither was he surprised - at least any more than a gentleman had
to be who freely confessed himself a little shocked - though not
perhaps strictly at Pemberton.
"We must go into this, mustn't we, dear?" he said to his wife. He
assured his young friend that the matter should have his very best
attention; and he melted into space as elusively as if, at the
door, he were taking an inevitable but deprecatory precedence.
When, the next moment, Pemberton found himself alone with Mrs.
Moreen it was to hear her say "I see, I see" - stroking the
roundness of her chin and looking as if she were only hesitating
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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 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: lost. You might suppose, after this preface, that I am going to
ask you for something dishonourable to grant. Judge for yourself.
"I want you to postpone all other engagements for to-night--
ay, even if you were summoned to the bedside of an emperor; to
take a cab, unless your carriage should be actually at the door;
and with this letter in your hand for consultation, to drive
straight to my house. Poole, my butler, has his orders; you will
find him waiting your arrival with a locksmith. The door of my
cabinet is then to be forced: and you are to go in alone; to open
the glazed press (letter E) on the left hand, breaking the lock if
it be shut; and to draw out, with all its contents as they stand,
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde |
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 Whirligigs by O. Henry: and removed the dishes and cloth. Reeves strewed them
table with excellent cigars, and Plunkett, with the others,
lighted one of these with evident gratification.
"I may be dull," said Morgan, with a grin and a wink
at Bridger; "but I want to know if I am. Now, I say
this is all a joke of Mr. Plunkett's, concocted to frighten.
two babes-in-the-woods. Is this Williamson to be taken
seriously or not?"
"'Williams,'" corrected Plunkett gravely. "I never
got off any jokes in my life. I know I wouldn't travel
2,000 miles to get off a poor one as this would be if I
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