| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: tackled a man as strong and skilful as himself; and his friends,
seeing him likely to get the worst of it, swarmed to his
assistance, almost succeeding, by tripping and kicking, in
getting Lincoln down. At the unfairness of this Lincoln became
suddenly and furiously angry, put forth his entire strength,
lifted the pride of Clary's Grove in his arms like a child, and
holding him high in the air, almost choked the life out of him.
It seemed for a moment as though a general fight must follow; but
even while Lincoln's fierce rage compelled their respect, his
quickly returning self-control won their admiration, and the
crisis was safely passed. Instead of becoming enemies and leaders
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Across The Plains by Robert Louis Stevenson: These judgments are typical of the feeling in all Western America.
The Chinese are considered stupid, because they are imperfectly
acquainted with English. They are held to be base, because their
dexterity and frugality enable them to underbid the lazy, luxurious
Caucasian. They are said to be thieves; I am sure they have no
monopoly of that. They are called cruel; the Anglo-Saxon and the
cheerful Irishman may each reflect before he bears the accusation.
I am told, again, that they are of the race of river pirates, and
belong to the most despised and dangerous class in the Celestial
Empire. But if this be so, what remarkable pirates have we here!
and what must be the virtues, the industry, the education, and the
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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 Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville: what manner of sickness that he had. And there our Lord healed a
man of the palsy that lay thirty-eight year, and our Lord said to
him, TOLLE GRABATUM TUUM ET AMBULA, that is to say, 'Take thy bed
and go.' And there beside was Pilate's house.
And fast by is King Herod's house, that let slay the innocents.
This Herod was over-much cursed and cruel. For first he let slay
his wife that he loved right well; and for the passing love that he
had to her when he saw her dead, he fell in a rage and out of his
wit a great while; and sithen he came again to his wit. And after
he let slay his two sons that he had of that wife. And after that
he let slay another of his wives, and a son that he had with her.
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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 One Basket by Edna Ferber: them, and read and reread them. When the Armistice news came,
and with it the possibility of Dike's return, Ben tried to fancy
him fitting into the life of the city. And his whole being
revolted at the thought.
He saw the pimply-faced, sallow youths standing at the corner of
Halsted and Sixty-third, spitting languidly and handling their
limp cigarettes with an amazing labial dexterity. Their
conversation was low-voiced, sinister, and terse, and their eyes
narrowed as they watched the overdressed, scarlet-lipped girls go
by. A great fear clutched at Ben Westerveld's heart.
The lack of exercise and manual labor began to tell on Ben. He
One Basket |
