| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Finished by H. Rider Haggard: worse thing happened. Either by chance or design Anscombe's
horse was struck in the neck and fell struggling, whereon my
beast, growing frightened, broke its riem and galloped to the
wagon. That is where I ought to have left them at first, only I
thought that we might need them to make a bolt on, or to carry
Anscombe if he could not walk.
Quite a long while went by before, glancing behind me, I saw
that the oxen that had been grazing at a little distance had at
length arrived and were being inspanned in furious haste. The
Basutos saw it also, and fearing lest we should escape,
determined to try to end the business. Suddenly they leapt from
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: consider him as deficient in general taste. Indeed, I think
I may say that you cannot, for your behaviour to him
is perfectly cordial, and if THAT were your opinion,
I am sure you could never be civil to him."
Marianne hardly knew what to say. She would
not wound the feelings of her sister on any account,
and yet to say what she did not believe was impossible.
At length she replied:
"Do not be offended, Elinor, if my praise of him
is not in every thing equal to your sense of his merits.
I have not had so many opportunities of estimating the minuter
Sense and Sensibility |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain: need to know this thing, I abide barren of the knowl-
edge."
"If A trade a barrel of onions to B, worth 2 pence
the bushel, in exchange for a sheep worth 4 pence and
a dog worth a penny, and C kill the dog before de-
livery, because bitten by the same, who mistook him
for D, what sum is still due to A from B, and which
party pays for the dog, C or D, and who gets the
money? If A, is the penny sufficient, or may he claim
consequential damages in the form of additional money
to represent the possible profit which might have
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court |
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 Young Forester by Zane Grey: angry crack and hiss of the fire. A few rods down I stopped, struck another
match, and lit the grass. There was a sputter and flash. Then the flame
flared up, spread like running quicksilver, and, meeting the pine-needles,
changed to red. I ran on. There was a loud flutter behind me, then a crack
almost like a shot, then a seething roar. Another pine had gone off. As I
stopped to strike the third match there came three distinct reports, and
then others that seemed dulled in a windy roar. I raced onward, daring only
once to look back. A fearful sight met my gaze. The slope was a red wave.
The pines were tufts of flame. The air was filled with steaming clouds of
whirling smoke. Then I fled onward again.
Match after match I struck, and when the box was empty I must have been a
The Young Forester |
