| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Droll Stories, V. 1 by Honore de Balzac: held the see of Paris, and the great quarrels of the Armagnacs had not
finished. To tell the truth, this vicar did well to have his vicarage
in that age, since he was well shapen, of a high colour, stout, big,
strong, eating and drinking like a convalescent, and indeed, was
always rising from a little malady that attacked him at certain times;
and, later on, he would have been his own executioner, had he
determined to observe his canonical continence. Add to this that he
was a Tourainian, id est, dark, and had in his eyes flame to light,
and water to quench all the domestic furnaces that required lighting
or quenching; and never since at Azay has been such vicar seen! A
handsome vicar was he, square-shouldered, fresh coloured, always
Droll Stories, V. 1 |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tom Sawyer, Detective by Mark Twain: amongst three. If there'd been three--But never mind
about that, there warn't three. I loafed along the back
streets studying and studying. And I says to myself,
I'll hog them di'monds the first chance I get, and I'll
have a disguise all ready, and I'll give the boys the slip,
and when I'm safe away I'll put it on, and then let
them find me if they can. So I got the false whiskers
and the goggles and this countrified suit of clothes,
and fetched them along back in a hand-bag; and when I
was passing a shop where they sell all sorts of things,
I got a glimpse of one of my pals through the window.
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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 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: 'So you won't be my friend?' she said, smiling as sweet as honey,
and creeping close up.
I overheard no further distinguishable talk, but, on looking round
again, I perceived two such radiant countenances bent over the page
of the accepted book, that I did not doubt the treaty had been
ratified on both sides; and the enemies were, thenceforth, sworn
allies.
The work they studied was full of costly pictures; and those and
their position had charm enough to keep them unmoved till Joseph
came home. He, poor man, was perfectly aghast at the spectacle of
Catherine seated on the same bench with Hareton Earnshaw, leaning
Wuthering Heights |
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 Land that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: rocky and steeply shelving toward the center, and once when I
moved straight out from shore to take other soundings we could
find no bottom whatsoever. In open spaces along the shore we
caught occasional glimpses of the distant cliffs, and here
they appeared only a trifle less precipitous than those which
bound Caprona on the seaward side. My theory is that in a far
distant era Caprona was a mighty mountain--perhaps the world's
mightiest volcanic action blew off the entire crest, blew
thousands of feet of the mountain upward and outward and onto the
surrounding continent, leaving a great crater; and then,
possibly, the continent sank as ancient continents have been
The Land that Time Forgot |
