| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Mother by Owen Wister: me buy Standard Egg at 63 by telling me that his mother had some, when
really the old lady had been dead for fifteen years. When I think of it
in this way, I do not feel--'"
"I know,' interrupted Ethel, 'you are afraid of ridicule. All men are.'"
"Had Ethel insisted, I believe that I should have cowhided Mr. Beverly
for her sake. But before his return our destinies were brightened. Copper
had been found near Ethel's waste lands in Michigan, and the family
business man was able to sell the property for seven hundred thousand
dollars. He did this so promptly that I ventured to ask him if delay
might not have brought a greater price. 'Well', he said, 'I don't know.
You must seize these things. Blake and Beverly might have got tired
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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 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: country it was, and how I lik'd it. I prais'd it much, the happy
life I led in it, expressing strongly my intention of returning
to it; and, one of them asking what kind of money we had there,
I produc'd a handful of silver, and spread it before them,
which was a kind of raree-show they had not been us'd to, paper being
the money of Boston. Then I took an opportunity of letting them see
my watch; and, lastly (my brother still grum and sullen), I gave them
a piece of eight to drink, and took my leave. This visit of mine
offended him extreamly; for, when my mother some time after spoke
to him of a reconciliation, and of her wishes to see us on good
terms together, and that we might live for the future as brothers,
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Father Damien by Robert Louis Stevenson: with the Kanakas, but yet destitute of real authority, so that his
boys laughed at him and he must carry out his wishes by the means
of bribes. He learned to have a mania for doctoring; and set up
the Kanakas against the remedies of his regular rivals: perhaps (if
anything matter at all in the treatment of such a disease) the
worst thing that he did, and certainly the easiest. The best and
worst of the man appear very plainly in his dealings with Mr.
Chapman's money; he had originally laid it out" [intended to lay it
out] "entirely for the benefit of Catholics, and even so not
wisely; but after a long, plain talk, he admitted his error fully
and revised the list. The sad state of the boys' home is in part
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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 Four Arthurian Romances by Chretien DeTroyes: (Vv. 5555-5662.) Below the city, in a remote spot, John had
expended much labour in the construction of a tower. Thither he
conducted Cliges, leading him through the different storeys,
which were decorated with fine painted pictures. He shows him
the rooms and the fire-places, taking him everywhere up and down.
Cliges examines this lonely house where no one lives or has
access. He passes from one room to another, until he thinks he
has seen it all, and he is much pleased with the tower and says
he thinks it is very fine. The lady will be comfortable there as
long as she lives, for no one will know of her dwelling place.
"No sire, you are right; she will never be discovered here. But
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