| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: but not how to put them out."
They now formed in marching order and proceeded to advance up the
slope of the hill, but had not gone far when before them rose a wall
of steel, the surface of which was thickly covered with sharp,
gleaming points resembling daggers. The wall completely surrounded
the wicker castle, and its sharp points prevented anyone from climbing
it. Even the Patchwork Girl might be ripped to pieces if she dared
attempt it. "Ah!" exclaimed the Wizard cheerfully, "Ugu is now using
one of my own tricks against me. But this is more serious than the
Barrier of Fire, because the only way to destroy the wall is to get on
the other side of it."
The Lost Princess of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Falk by Joseph Conrad: selves on the Borgmester Dahl. Some of the men
never left their bunks; many became quarrelsome.
The chief engineer, an old man, refused to speak
at all to anybody. Others shut themselves up in
their berths to cry. On calm days the inert steamer
rolled on a leaden sea under a murky sky, or
showed, in sunshine, the squalor of sea waifs, the
dried white salt, the rust, the jagged broken
places. Then the gales came again. They kept
body and soul together on short rations. Once, an
English ship, scudding in a storm, tried to stand
Falk |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: ringletted; and afterwards, in listening to the sound of the piano
or the harp played below, to the passing to and fro of the butler
and footman, to the jingling of glass and china as refreshments were
handed, to the broken hum of conversation as the drawing-room door
opened and closed. When tired of this occupation, I would retire
from the stairhead to the solitary and silent nursery: there,
though somewhat sad, I was not miserable. To speak truth, I had not
the least wish to go into company, for in company I was very rarely
noticed; and if Bessie had but been kind and companionable, I should
have deemed it a treat to spend the evenings quietly with her,
instead of passing them under the formidable eye of Mrs. Reed, in a
Jane Eyre |
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 A Simple Soul by Gustave Flaubert: CHAPTER V
The grass exhaled an odour of summer; flies buzzed in the air, the sun
shone on the river and warmed the slated roof. Old Mother Simon had
returned to Felicite and was peacefully falling asleep.
The ringing of bells woke her; the people were coming out of church.
Felicite's delirium subsided. By thinking of the procession, she was
able to see it as if she had taken part in it. All the school-
children, the singers and the firemen walked on the sidewalks, while
in the middle of the street came first the custodian of the church
with his halberd, then the beadle with a large cross, the teacher in
charge of the boys and a sister escorting the little girls; three of
A Simple Soul |
