| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll: A map they could all understand.
"What's the good of Mercator's North Poles and Equators,
Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?"
So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would reply
"They are merely conventional signs!
"Other maps are such shapes, with their islands and capes!
But we've got our brave Captain to thank:
(So the crew would protest) "that he's bought us the best--
A perfect and absolute blank!"
This was charming, no doubt; but they shortly found out
That the Captain they trusted so well
The Hunting of the Snark |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart: the table, a mute witness to this last mystifying occurrence.
"There is something else," I said hesitatingly, at the last.
"Halsey, I have never told this even to Gertrude, but the morning
after the crime, I found, in a tulip bed, a revolver. It--it was
yours, Halsey."
For an appreciable moment Halsey stared at me. Then he turned to
Gertrude.
"My revolver, Trude!" he exclaimed. "Why, Jack took my revolver
with him, didn't he?"
"Oh, for Heaven's sake don't say that," I implored. "The
detective thinks possibly Jack Bailey came back, and--and the
The Circular Staircase |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: foundation of the world: for I was an hungred,
and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave
Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in:
naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye
visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.
Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying,
Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, and fed
Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? When
saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? or
naked, and clothed Thee? Or when saw we Thee
sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee? And the
The Forged Coupon |
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 The Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: wondered if I could do that; it seemed rather a feat, you see.
And then I wondered if I would say it forward, and I thought I
did. Well, no sooner had I got to WORLD WITHOUT END, than I saw a
man in a pariu, and with a mat under his arm, come along the
beach from the town. He was rather a hard-favoured old party,
and he limped and crippled, and all the time he kept coughing. At
first I didn't cotton to his looks, I thought, and then I got
sorry for the old soul because he coughed so hard. I remembered
that we had some of that cough mixture the American consul gave
the captain for Hay. It never did Hay a ha'porth of service, but
I thought it might do the old gentleman's business for him, and
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