| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: say . . ."
ALYOSHA THE POT
ALYOSHA THE POT
ALYOSHA was the younger brother. He was
called the Pot, because his mother had once sent
him with a pot of milk to the deacon's wife, and he
had stumbled against something and broken it.
His mother had beaten him, and the children had
teased him. Since then he was nicknamed the Pot.
Alyosha was a tiny, thin little fellow, with ears like
wings, and a huge nose. "Alyosha has a nose that
The Forged Coupon |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pivot of Civilization by Margaret Sanger: healthful exercise of their God-given functions. The treasures of
life are not hidden; they are close at hand, so close that we overlook
them. We cheat ourselves with a pitiful fear of ourselves. Men and
women of the future will not seek happiness; they will have gone
beyond it. Mere happiness would produce monotony. And their lives
shall be lives of change and variety with the thrills produced by
experiment and research.
Fear will have been abolished: first of all, the fear of outside
things and other people; finally the fear of oneself. And with these
fears must disappear forever all those poisons of hatreds, individual
and international. For the realization would come that there would be
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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 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: but should have exercised himself with the thirteen weeks'
examination and practice of the virtues) as in the before-mention'd model;
that the existence of such a society should he kept a secret,
till it was become considerable, to prevent solicitations
for the admission of improper persons, but that the members
should each of them search among his acquaintance for ingenuous,
well-disposed youths, to whom, with prudent caution, the scheme
should be grad ually communicated; that the members should engage
to afford their advice, assistance, and support to each other
in promoting one another's interests, business, and advancement
in life; that, for distinction, we should be call'd The Society of
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
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 Daisy Miller by Henry James: "I am afraid," said Winterbourne, "that you will not think
Roman fever very pretty. This is the way people catch it.
I wonder," he added, turning to Giovanelli, "that you,
a native Roman, should countenance such a terrible indiscretion."
"Ah," said the handsome native, "for myself I am not afraid."
"Neither am I--for you! I am speaking for this young lady."
Giovanelli lifted his well-shaped eyebrows and showed his brilliant teeth.
But he took Winterbourne's rebuke with docility. "I told the signorina it
was a grave indiscretion, but when was the signorina ever prudent?"
"I never was sick, and I don't mean to be!" the signorina declared.
"I don't look like much, but I'm healthy! I was bound to see the Colosseum
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