| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Virginian by Owen Wister: He was in another sort of mood the next time, cribbage not
interesting him in the least. "Your folks will be wondering about
you," said he.
"I don't think they will mind which month I go to them," said
Molly. "Especially when they know the reason."
"Don't let me keep you, ma'am," said he. Molly stared at him; but
he pursued, with the same edge lurking in his slow words: "Though
I'll never forget. How could I forget any of all you have
done--and been? If there had been none of this, why, I had enough
to remember! But please don't stay, ma'am. We'll say I had a
claim when yu' found me pretty well dead, but I'm gettin' well,
The Virginian |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Salome by Oscar Wilde: Jamais je n'ai ete si heureux.
LE PREMIER SOLDAT. Il a l'air sombre, le tetrarque. N'est-ce pas
qu'il a l'air sombre?
LE SECOND SOLDAT. Il a l'air sombre.
HERODE. Pourquoi ne serais-je pas heureux? Cesar, qui est le
maitre du monde, qui est le maitre de tout, m'aime beaucoup. Il
vient de m'envoyer des cadeaux de grande valeur. Aussi il m'a
promis de citer e Rome le roi de Cappadoce qui est mon ennemi.
Peut-etre e Rome il le crucifiera. Il peut faire tout ce qu'il
veut, Cesar. Enfin, il est le maitre. Ainsi, vous voyez, j'ai le
droit d'etre heureux. Il n'y a rien au monde qui puisse gater mon
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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 Summer by Edith Wharton: hold her tongue and be thankful. She looked up at the
Mountain, thinking of these things, and tried as usual
to be thankful. But the sight of the young man turning
in at Miss Hatchard's gate had brought back the vision
of the glittering streets of Nettleton, and she felt
ashamed of her old sun-hat, and sick of North Dormer,
and jealously aware of Annabel Balch of Springfield,
opening her blue eyes somewhere far off on glories
greater than the glories of Nettleton.
"How I hate everything!" she said again.
Half way down the street she stopped at a weak-hinged
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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 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle: Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?"
"He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me
in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to
be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his
voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he
was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat,
and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always
well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just
as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare."
"Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather,
returned to France?"
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes |
