| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Pupil by Henry James: conspicuous that in the long run the Moreens were a social failure;
so that the young man was almost grateful the run had not been
short. Mr. Moreen indeed was still occasionally able to get away
on business and, what was more surprising, was likewise able to get
back. Ulick had no club but you couldn't have discovered it from
his appearance, which was as much as ever that of a person looking
at life from the window of such an institution; therefore Pemberton
was doubly surprised at an answer he once heard him make his mother
in the desperate tone of a man familiar with the worst privations.
Her question Pemberton had not quite caught; it appeared to be an
appeal for a suggestion as to whom they might get to take Amy.
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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 Lamentable Tragedy of Locrine and Mucedorus by William Shakespeare: SEGASTO.
Why, then thou leavest word with some of his folks.
MOUSE.
Oh, master, if there be no body within, I will leave
word with his dog.
SEGASTO.
Why, can his dog speak?
MOUSE.
I cannot tell; wherefore doth he keep his chamber else?
SEGASTO.
To keep out such knaves as thou art.
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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 Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: at the window of Sir Crichton's study, I saw him jump out of his chair.
Where he used to sit at his writing, sir, you could see his shadow
on the blind. Next minute I heard a call out in the lane."
"What kind of call?"
The man, whom the uncanny happening clearly had frightened,
seemed puzzled for a suitable description.
"A sort of wail, sir," he said at last. "I never heard anything
like it before, and don't want to again."
"Like this?" inquired Smith, and he uttered a low, wailing cry,
impossible to describe. Wills perceptibly shuddered; and, indeed,
it was an eerie sound.
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
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 Underdogs by Mariano Azuela: deep mystery was preserved to oblige the soldiers to
leave on the morrow before sunrise under Anastasio and
Venancio.
When Demetrio awoke to the strains of music, his
general staff, now composed chiefly of young ex-govern-
ment officers, told him of the discovery, and Quail, in-
terpreting the thoughts of his colleagues, said senten-
tiously:
"These are bad times and you've got to take advantage
of everythin'. If there are some days when a duck can
swim, there's others when he can't take a drink."
The Underdogs |
