| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Heroes by Charles Kingsley: schooling in the cave beneath the cliff. And at last Peleus
spoke, 'Let us land here, friends, and climb the dear old
hill once more. We are going on a fearful journey; who knows
if we shall see Pelion again? Let us go up to Cheiron our
master, and ask his blessing ere we start. And I have a boy,
too, with him, whom he trains as he trained me once - the son
whom Thetis brought me, the silver-footed lady of the sea,
whom I caught in the cave, and tamed her, though she changed
her shape seven times. For she changed, as I held her, into
water, and to vapour, and to burning flame, and to a rock,
and to a black-maned lion, and to a tall and stately tree.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: and pleasant voice.
Every rope on deck, he said, was laid down clear
for running, as far as one could make certain
by feeling. It was impossible to see anything.
Frenchy had stationed himself forward. He said
he had a jump or two left in him yet.
Here a faint smile altered for an instant the
clear, firm design of Ransome's lips. With his
serious clear, gray eyes, his serene temperament--
he was a priceless man altogether. Soul as firm
as the muscles of his body.
The Shadow Line |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: your rooms."
"A letter? What do you mean? A letter from HER? What has
happened?"
His paleness shook her, and she raised a hand of reassurance.
"Nothing has happened--perhaps that is just the worst of it. You
always HATED, you know," she added incoherently, "to have things
happen: you never would let them."
"And now--?"
"Well, that was what she came here for: I supposed you had
guessed. To know if anything had happened."
"Had happened?" He gazed at her slowly. "Between you and me?"
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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 The Message by Honore de Balzac: me. Nevertheless, I had to assuage the grief of an old woman-
servant, who staggered back at the tidings of her young master's
death, and sank half-dead into a chair when she saw the blood-
stained key. But I had another and more dreadful sorrow to think
of, the sorrow of a woman who had lost her last love; so I left
the old woman to her prosopopeia, and carried off the precious
correspondence, carefully sealed by my friend of the day.
The Countess' chateau was some eight leagues beyond Moulins, and
then there was some distance to walk across country. So it was
not exactly an easy matter to deliver my message. For divers
reasons into which I need not enter, I had barely sufficient
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