| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Familiar Studies of Men and Books by Robert Louis Stevenson: predicted his own fate; yet his knowledge could not avail
him, and with open eyes he must fulfil his tragic destiny.
Ten years before the end he had written his epitaph; and
neither subsequent events, nor the critical eyes of
posterity, have shown us a word in it to alter. And, lastly,
has he not put in for himself the last unanswerable plea? -
"Then gently scan your brother man,
Still gentler sister woman;
Though they may gang a kennin wrang,
To step aside is human:
One point must still be greatly dark - "
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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 Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: and snarling mien.
An hour before little Tibo would have said that he
knew the uttermost depths of fear; but now, as he saw
these fearsome beasts surrounding him, he realized that
all that had gone before was as nothing by comparison.
Why did the great white giant stand there so unconcernedly?
Why did he not flee before these horrid, hairy, tree men
fell upon them both and tore them to pieces? And then
there came to Tibo a numbing recollection. It was none
other than the story he had heard passed from mouth
to mouth, fearfully, by the people of Mbonga, the chief,
The Jungle Tales of Tarzan |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Blix by Frank Norris: the study she had chosen--self-reliant, cool, and robust.
But it was not easy for her to go. Never before had Blix been
away from her home; never for longer than a week had she been
separated from her father, nor from Howard and Snooky. That huge
city upon the Atlantic seaboard, with its vast, fierce life, where
beat the heart of the nation, and where beyond Aunt Kihm she knew
no friend, filled Blix with a vague sense of terror and of
oppression. She was going out into a new life, a life of work and
of study, a harsher life than she had yet known. Her father, her
friends, her home--all these were to be left behind. It was not
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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 Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum: to the stiff hair of the zebra's head, where it held on by one claw.
"Now then, Mr. Crab," said the zebra, "here are the people I told you
about; and they know more than you do, who lives in a pool, and more
than I do, who lives in a forest. For they have been travelers all
over the world, and know every part of it."
"There is more of the world than Oz," declared the crab,
in a stubborn voice.
"That is true," said Dorothy; "but I used to live in Kansas, in the
United States, and I've been to California and to Australia and so
has Uncle Henry."
"For my part," added the Shaggy Man, "I've been to Mexico and Boston
The Emerald City of Oz |
