| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Princess of Parms by Edgar Rice Burroughs: the love and affection your nature craves and which must
always be denied you by the customs of your own race.
Come with us, Sola; we might go without you, but your
fate would be terrible if they thought you had connived to
aid us. I know that even that fear would not tempt you to
interfere in our escape, but we want you with us, we want
you to come to a land of sunshine and happiness, amongst
a people who know the meaning of love, of sympathy, and
of gratitude. Say that you will, Sola; tell me that you will."
"The great waterway which leads to Helium is but fifty
miles to the south," murmured Sola, half to herself; "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 The Village Rector by Honore de Balzac: stopped now and then, to rest her daughter, whose sufferings were
poignant, so that it was well-nigh midnight before they reached the
path that goes down from the woods to the sloping meadow where the
silvery roof of the chalet shone. The moonlight gave to the surface of
the quiet water, the tint of pearls. The little noises of the night,
echoing in the silence, made softest harmony. Veronique sat down on
the bench of the chalet, amid this beauteous scene of the starry
night. The murmur of two voices and the footfall of two persons still
at a distance on the sandy shore were brought by the water, which
sometimes, when all is still, reproduces sounds as faithfully as it
reflects objects on the surface. Veronique recognized at once 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 Art of War by Sun Tzu: to drive a wedge between the enemy's front and rear;
[More literally, "cause the front and rear to lose touch
with each other."]
to prevent co-operation between his large and small divisions; to
hinder the good troops from rescuing the bad, the officers from
rallying their men.
16. When the enemy's men were united, they managed to keep
them in disorder.
17. When it was to their advantage, they made a forward
move; when otherwise, they stopped still.
[Mei Yao-ch`en connects this with the foregoing: "Having
The Art of War |
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 of Footprints by Stewart Edward White: twice the startled barking of zebra very near at hand. The latter
sounded as ridiculous as ever. It is one of the many
incongruities of African life that Nature should have given so
large and so impressive a creature the petulant yapping of an
exasperated Pomeranian lap dog. At the end of three quarters of
an hour of more or less stumbling progress, we made out against
the sky the twisted treelet that served as our landmark. Billy
dismounted, turned the mule over to the syce, and we crept slowly
forward until within a guessed two or three hundred yards of our
kill.
Nothing remained now but to wait for the daylight. It had already
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