| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Child of Storm by H. Rider Haggard: me go, but just then Bangu came up and saw the dead man, who was his
brother.
"'Wow!' he said when he knew how the man had died. 'This lion's cub is
a wizard also, for how else could he have killed a soldier who has known
war? Hold out his arms that I may finish him slowly.'
"So two of them held out my arms, and Bangu came up with his spear."
Saduko ceased speaking, not that his tale was done, but because his
voice choked in his throat. Indeed, seldom have I seen a man so moved.
He breathed in great gasps, the sweat poured from him, and his muscles
worked convulsively. I gave him a pannikin of water and he drank, then
he went on:
Child of Storm |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Domestic Peace by Honore de Balzac: "Well, General, since you have vouchsafed to turn your attention to
that lady, whom I never saw till now, have the charity to tell me if
you have seen her dance."
"Why, my dear Martial, where have you dropped from? If you are ever
sent with an embassy, I have small hopes of your success. Do not you
see a triple rank of the most undaunted coquettes of Paris between her
and the swarm of dancing men that buzz under the chandelier? And was
it not only by the help of your eyeglass that you were able to
discover her at all in the corner by that pillar, where she seems
buried in the gloom, in spite of the candles blazing above her head?
Between her and us there is such a sparkle of diamonds and glances, so
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: appeared to argue a conscious superiority to those of her own
rank. It scarce seemed possible that a face, deprived of the
advantage of sight, could have expressed character so
strongly; but her eyes, which were almost totally closed, did
not, by the display of their sightless orbs, mar the countenance
to which they could add nothing. She seemed in a ruminating
posture, soothed, perhaps, by the murmurs of the busy tribe
around her to abstraction, though not to slumber.
Lucy undid the latch of the little garden gate, and
solicited the old woman's attention. "My father, Alice, is come
to see you."
The Bride of Lammermoor |
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 Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie: The butler retired, returning a moment or two later.
"Sir James will see you. Will you step this way?"
He ushered them into a room at the back of the house, furnished
as a library. The collection of books was a magnificent one, and
Tuppence noticed that all one wall was devoted to works on crime
and criminology. There were several deep-padded leather
arm-chairs, and an old-fashioned open hearth. In the window was a
big roll-top desk strewn with papers at which the master of the
house was sitting.
He rose as they entered.
"You have a message for me? Ah"--he recognized Tuppence with a
Secret Adversary |
