| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Don Quixote by Miquel de Cervantes: shoulders, bit his lips, bent his brows, and before long two streams
of tears escaped from his eyes. Dorothea, however, did not interrupt
her story, but went on in these words:
"This sad intelligence reached my ears, and, instead of being struck
with a chill, with such wrath and fury did my heart burn that I
scarcely restrained myself from rushing out into the streets, crying
aloud and proclaiming openly the perfidy and treachery of which I
was the victim; but this transport of rage was for the time checked by
a resolution I formed, to be carried out the same night, and that
was to assume this dress, which I got from a servant of my father's,
one of the zagals, as they are called in farmhouses, to whom I
Don Quixote |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Long Odds by H. Rider Haggard: especially as the buck had rolled right against the after-part of the
waggon, so I had only to gut him, fix a reim round his legs, and haul
him up. By the time I had done this the sun was down, and the full moon
was up, and a beautiful moon it was. And then there came that wonderful
hush which sometimes falls over the African bush in the early hours of
the night. No beast was moving, and no bird called. Not a breath of
air stirred the quiet trees, and the shadows did not even quiver, they
only grew. It was very oppressive and very lonely, for there was not a
sign of the cattle or the boys. I was quite thankful for the society of
old Kaptein, who was lying down contentedly against the disselboom,
chewing the cud with a good conscience.
Long Odds |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Four Arthurian Romances by Chretien DeTroyes: Here ends the first part of my story. (19)
(Vv. 1845-1914.) When the kiss of the Stag was taken according
to the custom of the country, Erec, like a polite and kind man,
was solicitous for his poor host. It was not his intention to
fail to execute what he had promised. Hear how he kept his
covenant: for he sent him now five sumpter mules, strong and
sleek, loaded with dresses and clothes, buckrams and scarlets,
marks of gold and silver plate, furs both vair and grey, skins of
sable, purple stuffs, and silks. When the mules were loaded with
all that a gentleman can need, he sent with them an escort of ten
knights and sergeants chosen from his own men, and straightly
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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 Iron Puddler by James J. Davis: Strap an Oregon boot of that weight to your arm and then do
calisthenics ten hours in a room so hot it melts your eyebrows
and you will know what it is like to be a puddler. But we
puddlers did not complain. There is men's work to be done in this
world, and we were the men to do it. We had come into a country
built of wood; we should change it to a country built of steel
and stone. There was grandeur for us to achieve, like the Roman
who said, "I found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of
marble."
The spirit of building was in our blood; we took pride in the
mill, and the mill owners were our captains. They honored us for
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