| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tales of the Klondyke by Jack London: had grown steadily and bitterly colder. There was no telling when
the snap would end. And it is poor policy, unless the gods will
it, to venture far from a stove at such times, or to increase the
quantity of cold atmosphere one must breathe. Men sometimes do
it, and sometimes they chill their lungs. This leads up to a dry,
hacking cough, noticeably irritable when bacon is being fried.
After that, somewhere along in the spring or summer, a hole is
burned in the frozen muck. Into this a man's carcass is dumped,
covered over with moss, and left with the assurance that it will
rise on the crack of Doom, wholly and frigidly intact. For those
of little faith, sceptical of material integration on that fateful
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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]: was not more than a foot and a half from the ground, and it was filled with
all sorts of weeds that flourished without sunshine. Still the little puppy
cries were persistently wafted out from some remote corner, and, pulling off
his jacket, Rudolph started to crawl in and investigate. It did not seem
possible that he could make his way, for the place was not high enough for him
even to crawl on his hands and knees, and he had rather to worm himself along
on his elbows in quite indescribable fashion. Still, Tattine and Mabel were
more than ready to have him try, and waited patiently, bending over with their
hands upon their knees, and gazing in through the weed-grown hole in
breathless, excited fashion.
"I believe I'll have to give it up," Rudolph called back; "the cries seem as
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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 Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: clean and self-reliant.
'I'm only a beginner,' gasped the blushing Harker, 'I didn't
think anybody could hear me.'
'Well, I like that!' returned the other. 'You're a pretty old
beginner. Come, I'll give you a lead myself. Give us a seat here
beside you.'
The next moment the military gentleman was perched on the cart,
pipe in hand. He gave the instrument a knowing rattle on the
shaft, mouthed it, appeared to commune for a moment with the
muse, and dashed into 'The girl I left behind me'. He was a
great, rather than a fine, performer; he lacked the bird-like
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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 Buttered Side Down by Edna Ferber: had the sweetest mouth, from the time he was a baby. Let's see
some of these other boys. Why--why----"
Then she fell silent, scanning those other faces. Presently
Josie bent over her and looked too, and the brows of both women
knitted in perplexity. They looked for a long, long minute, and
the longer they looked the more noticeable became the cluster of
fine little wrinkles that had begun to form about Mrs. Houghton's
eyes.
When finally they looked up it was to gaze at one another
questioningly.
"Those other boys," faltered Eddie's mother, "they--they don't
Buttered Side Down |
