| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Iron Puddler by James J. Davis: in my pocket together with a "bait" of Plowboy tobacco. And so I
hit the road. When I came to the place where my pals were
working, cutting willows along the levee, I told them of my
plight.
"Never mind, boy," they said. "You go back to New Orleans and
wait for us. After we've worked our hundred days to get a hundred
dollars each, we will work a few days more to get a hundred
dollars for you. Then we'll all go north and be rich together."
I began footing it thirty-five miles to the city. I decided,
like Queen Isabella, to pawn my jewels to enable me to discover
America again. I had an old ring and I met a darky who had a
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Woman and Labour by Olive Schreiner: artificial manners.)
No study of the mere physical differences between individuals of different
races would have enabled us to arrive at any knowledge of their mental
aptitude; nor does the fact that certain individuals of a given human
variety have certain aptitudes form a rational ground for compelling all
individuals of that variety to undertake a certain form of labour.
No analysis, however subtle, of the physical conformation of the Jew could
have suggested a priori, and still less could have proved, apart from ages
of practical experience, that, running parallel with any physical
characteristics which may distinguish him from his fellows, was an innate
and unique intellectual gift in the direction of religion. The fact that,
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Under the Andes by Rex Stout: well as possible, but it continued to bleed. But it was imperative
that we should find water, and we struggled on, traversing narrow
passages and immense caverns, always in complete darkness,
stumbling over unseen rocks and encountering sharp corners of cross
passages.
It lasted I know not how many hours. Neither of us would have
survived alone. Time and again Harry sank to the ground and
refused to rise until I perforce lifted him; once we nearly came to
blows. And I was guilty of the same weakness.
But the despair of one inspired the other with fresh strength
and courage, and we struggled forward, slower and slower. It was
|
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 Emma McChesney & Co. by Edna Ferber: haired. She was a grandmother now, at forty-six, broad-bosomed,
broad-hipped, but still pink of cheek and brown of hair. In
those thirty years she had spent just three away from Buck's.
She had brought her children into the world; she had fed them and
clothed them and sent them to school, had Sophy, and seen them
married, and helped them to bring their children into the world
in turn. In her round, red, wholesome face shone a great wisdom,
much love, and that infinite understanding which is born only of
bitter experience. She had come to Buck's when old T. A. was
just beginning to make Featherlooms a national institution. She
had seen his struggles, his prosperity; she had grieved at his
Emma McChesney & Co. |
