| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Chita: A Memory of Last Island by Lafcadio Hearn: boat at the settlement, the Carmencita, had been almost wrecked
by running upon a snag three days before;--there was at least a
fortnight's work for the ship-carpenter of Dead Cypress Point.
And Feliu was sleeping as if nothing unusual had happened--the
heavy sleep of a sailor, heedless of commotions and voices. And
his men, Miguel and Mateo, were at the other end of the cheniere.
With a scream Carmen aroused Feliu. He raised himself upon his
elbow, rubbed his eyes, and asked her, with exasperating
calmness, "Que tienes? que tienes?" (What ails thee?)
--"Oh, Feliu! the sea is coming upon us!" she answered, in the
same tongue. But she screamed out a word inspired by her fear:
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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 Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: unwillingness of the peasantry it was found necessary to cancel the
old leases and give new ones, to divide the estate into four great
farms and let them on equal shares, the sort of lease that prevails in
Touraine and its neighborhood. The owner of the estate gives the
house, farm-buildings, and seed-grain to tenants-at-will, with whom he
divides the costs of cultivation and the crops. This division is
superintended by an agent or bailiff, whose business it is to take the
share belonging to the owner; a costly system, complicated by the
market changes of values, which alter the character of the shares
constantly. The countess had induced Monsieur de Mortsauf to cultivate
a fifth farm, made up of the reserved lands about Clochegourde, as
The Lily of the Valley |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Bab:A Sub-Deb, Mary Roberts Rinehart by Mary Roberts Rinehart: his arms around her, and she was weeping? Because he was poor,
although of good familey, and lived in another city, where he was
a broker, my familey had objected to him. Had I but been taken into
Leila's confidence, which he considered I had, or at least that I
understood, how I would have helped, instead of thwarting! If any parents
or older sisters read this, let them see how wrong it is to leave any
member of the familey in the dark, especialy in AFFAIRES DE COUER.
Having seen from the verandah window that I had comitted an enor,
and unable to bear any more, I crawled in the pantrey window again
and went up stairs to my Chamber. There I undressed and having hid
my weapon, pretended to be asleep.
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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 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain: mistake. A double one, in fact. There were plenty
of ways to get rid of that officer by some simple and
plausible device, but no, I must pick out a picturesque
one; it is the crying defect of my character. And
then, I had ordered my procedure upon what the
officer, being human, would NATURALLY do; whereas
when you are least expecting it, a man will now and
then go and do the very thing which it's NOT natural
for him to do. The natural thing for the officer to do,
in this case, was to follow straight on my heels; he
would find a stout oaken door, securely locked, be-
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court |
