| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Margret Howth: A Story of To-day by Rebecca Harding Davis: any to Jenny but "old man" and pinks,) and she always had them
ready in broken jugs inside. They were good, kind girls, every
one of them,--had taken it in turn to sit up with Lois last
winter all the time she had the rheumatism. She never forgot
that time,--never once.
Later in the evening you would see a man coming along, close by
the wall, with his head down, the same Margret had seen in the
mill,--a dark man, with gray, thin hair,--Joe Yare, Lois's old
father. No one spoke to him,-- people always were looking away
as he passed; and if old Mr. or Mrs. Polston were on the steps
when he came up, they would say, "Good-evening, Mr. Yare," very
Margret Howth: A Story of To-day |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: himself everywhere rather as if he were at home.
Nevertheless, whether it was a tacit acknowledgment of the
sanctity of the personage of Aramis and his character, or
the habit of respecting him who imposed upon him morally, a
worthy habit which had always made Porthos a model soldier
and an excellent companion; for all these reasons, say we,
Porthos preserved in the palace of His Greatness the Bishop
of Vannes a sort of reserve which D'Artagnan remarked at
once, in the attitude he took with respect to the valets and
officers. And yet this reserve did not go so far as to
prevent his asking questions. Porthos questioned. They
Ten Years Later |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Hated Son by Honore de Balzac: So saying the count advanced slowly to the bonesetter, pushed a chair
noisily toward him, as if to invite him to sit down, as he did himself
by the bedside; then he said to his wife in a specious voice:--
"Well, my pretty one, so we have a son; this is a joyful thing for us.
Do you suffer much?"
"No," murmured the countess.
The evident surprise of the mother, and the tardy demonstrations of
pleasure on the part of the father, convinced Beauvouloir that there
was some incident behind all this which escaped his penetration. He
persisted in his suspicion, and rested his hand on that of the young
wife, less to watch her condition than to convey to her some advice.
|
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 Tales of the Klondyke by Jack London: "Have I not said I was a servant to the Government? If not, it is
well that ye know. So I was taken on a warship, sleds and dogs
and evaporated foods, and with me came Passuk. And we went north,
to the winter ice-rim of Bering Sea, where we were landed,--
myself, and Passuk, and the dogs. I was also given moneys of the
Government, for I was its servant, and charts of lands which the
eyes of man had never dwelt upon, and messages. These messages
were sealed, and protected shrewdly from the weather, and I was to
deliver them to the whale-ships of the Arctic, ice-bound by the
great Mackenzie. Never was there so great a river, forgetting
only our own Yukon, the Mother of all Rivers.
|
