| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Legend of Montrose by Walter Scott: that period had a superstitious dread of the war-horse, like that
entertained by the Peruvians, and had many strange ideas
respecting the manner in which that animal was trained to combat.
When, therefore, they found their ranks unexpectedly broken, and
that the objects of their greatest terror were suddenly in the
midst of them, the panic, in spite of Sir Duncan's attempts to
stop it, became universal. Indeed, the figure of Major Dalgetty
alone, sheathed in impenetrable armour, and making his horse
caracole and bound, so as to give weight to every blow which he
struck, would have been a novelty in itself sufficient to terrify
those who had never seen anything more nearly resembling such a
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Two Poets by Honore de Balzac: had made no progress in either art; but by allowing a handsome margin
for "wear and tear" in his estimates, he managed to pay a foreman's
wages. The once easy-going journeyman was a terror to his "bears" and
"monkeys." Where poverty ceases, avarice begins. From the day when
Sechard first caught a glimpse of the possibility of making a fortune,
a growing covetousness developed and sharpened in him a certain
practical faculty for business--greedy, suspicious, and keen-eyed. He
carried on his craft in disdain of theory. In course of time he had
learned to estimate at a glance the cost of printing per page or per
sheet in every kind of type. He proved to unlettered customers that
large type costs more to move; or, if small type was under discussion,
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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 Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: put it in the dishpan. Then he went to Glinda's laboratory and took
all her rare chemical compounds and her instruments of sorcery,
placing these also in the dishpan, which he caused to grow large
enough to hold them. Next he seated himself amongst the treasures he
had stolen and wished himself in the room in Ozma's palace which the
Wizard occupied and where he kept his bag of magic tools. This bag
Ugu added to his plunder and then wished himself in the apartments of
Ozma.
Here he first took the Magic Picture from the wall and then seized all
the other magical things which Ozma possessed. Having placed these in
the dishpan, he was about to climb in himself when he looked up and
The Lost Princess of Oz |
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 Walking by Henry David Thoreau: good men and lovers meet.
I love even to see the domestic animals reassert their native
rights--any evidence that they have not wholly lost their
original wild habits and vigor; as when my neighbor's cow breaks
out of her pasture early in the spring and boldly swims the
river, a cold, gray tide, twenty-five or thirty rods wide,
swollen by the melted snow. It is the buffalo crossing the
Mississippi. This exploit confers some dignity on the herd in my
eyes--already dignified. The seeds of instinct are preserved
under the thick hides of cattle and horses, like seeds in the
bowels of the earth, an indefinite period.
Walking |
