| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Rewards and Fairies by Rudyard Kipling: cloak - 'how did a Flint-worker come by that? Show, man, show!'
He held out his little hand.
The man slipped a long dark iron knife, almost a short sword,
from his belt, and after breathing on it, handed it hilt-first to
Puck, who took it with his head on one side, as you should when
you look at the works of a watch, squinted down the dark blade,
and very delicately rubbed his forefinger from the point to the hilt.
'Good!' said he, in a surprised tone.
'It should be. The Children of the Night made it,' the man answered.
'So I see by the iron. What might it have cost you?'
'This!' The man raised his hand to his cheek. Puck whistled like
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley: of thousands of broken bits of gravel which we tread on here all
day long; and here are some more bits like it, which came from the
same place--all very much the same shape, like rough knives or
razor blades; and here is a core of flint, the remaining part of a
large flint, from which, as you may see, blades like those have
been split off. Those flakes of flint, my child, were split off
by men; even your young eyes ought to be able to see that. And
here are other pieces of flint--pear-shaped, but flattened, sharp
at one end and left rounded at the other, which look like spear-
heads, or arrow-heads, or pointed axes, or pointed hatchets--even
your young eyes can see that these must have been made by man.
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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 Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton: experienced advisers who had first descried them on the horizon
and tried to help them upward. They were always taking up the
wrong people, giving the wrong kind of party, and spending
millions on things that nobody who mattered cared about. They
all believed passionately in "movements" and "causes" and
"ideals," and were always attended by the exponents of their
latest beliefs, always asking you to hear lectures by haggard
women in peplums, and having their portraits painted by wild
people who never turned out to be the fashion.
All this would formerly have increased Susy's contempt; now she
found herself liking the Hickses most for their failings. She
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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 Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: other side of the door, raised his voice.
"You must have been mad."
And Mr Verloc's voice answered, with a sort of gloomy fury:
"I have been mad for a month or more, but I am not mad now. It's
all over. It shall all come out of my head, and hang the
consequences."
There was a silence, and then Private Citizen Heat murmured:
"What's coming out?"
"Everything," exclaimed the voice of Mr Verloc, and then sank very
low.
After a while it rose again.
The Secret Agent |
