| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: dollars--that is to say, he gave me life, as I considered it. He
also gave me fortune; for out of that money I have made myself rich
at the gaming-table. And finally, a remark which he made to me has
remained with me to this day, and has at last conquered me; and in
conquering has saved the remnant of my morals: I shall gamble no
more. Now I have no idea who that man was, but I want him found,
and I want him to have this money, to give away, throw away, or
keep, as he pleases. It is merely my way of testifying my gratitude
to him. If I could stay, I would find him myself; but no matter, he
will be found. This is an honest town, an incorruptible town, and I
know I can trust it without fear. This man can be identified by the
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Legend of Montrose by Walter Scott: cavalier, than a SHELTY waddling under a Highlander far bigger
than itself. The repulsed Royalists returned to the charge; the
Irish, keeping their ranks, maintained a fire equally close and
destructive. There was no sustaining the fight longer. Argyle's
followers began to break and fly, most towards the lake, the
remainder in different directions. The defeat of the right wing,
of itself decisive, was rendered irreparable by the death of
Auchenbreck, who fell while endeavouring to restore order.
The Knight of Ardenvohr, with two or three hundred men, all
gentlemen of descent and distinguished gallantry,--for the
Campbells are supposed to have had more gentlemen in their ranks
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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 Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: by the King's Head pub., patronized by the cooks and stewards of
the fleet, the voice of a man crying "Hot saveloys!" at the end of
George Street, where the cheap eating-houses (sixpence a meal) were
kept by Chinamen (Sun-kum-on's was not bad), is heard at regular
intervals. I have listened for hours to this most pertinacious
pedlar (I wonder whether he is dead or has made a fortune), while
sitting on the rail of the old Duke of S- (she's dead, poor thing!
a violent death on the coast of New Zealand), fascinated by the
monotony, the regularity, the abruptness of the recurring cry, and
so exasperated at the absurd spell, that I wished the fellow would
choke himself to death with a mouthful of his own infamous wares.
The Mirror of the Sea |
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 Jolly Corner by Henry James: before they had taken the Form he so yearned to make them take, the
Form he at moments saw himself in the light of fairly hunting on
tiptoe, the points of his evening shoes, from room to room and from
storey to storey.
That was the essence of his vision - which was all rank folly, if
one would, while he was out of the house and otherwise occupied,
but which took on the last verisimilitude as soon as he was placed
and posted. He knew what he meant and what he wanted; it was as
clear as the figure on a cheque presented in demand for cash. His
ALTER EGO "walked" - that was the note of his image of him, while
his image of his motive for his own odd pastime was the desire to
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