| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: make her amenable.
Dejected and humbled, she had even some thoughts of not
going with the others to the theatre that night; but it
must be confessed that they were not of long continuance,
for she soon recollected, in the first place, that she was
without any excuse for staying at home; and, in the second,
that it was a play she wanted very much to see.
To the theatre accordingly they all went; no Tilneys
appeared to plague or please her; she feared that,
amongst the many perfections of the family, a fondness
for plays was not to be ranked; but perhaps it was because
Northanger Abbey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Domestic Peace by Honore de Balzac: in the room made it a point of chimerical importance to dance in
preference to any other. While the orchestra played the introductory
bars to the first figure, the Baron felt it an incredible
gratification to his pride to perceive, as he reviewed the ladies
forming the lines of that formidable square, that Madame de Soulanges'
dress might challenge that even of Madame de Vaudremont, who, by a
chance not perhaps unsought, was standing with Montcornet vis-a-vis to
himself and the lady in blue. All eyes were for a moment turned on
Madame de Soulanges; a flattering murmur showed that she was the
subject of every man's conversation with his partner. Looks of
admiration and envy centered on her, with so much eagerness that the
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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 Hellenica by Xenophon: arrival he was fined and banished, the allies accusing him of allowing
his troops to plunder their friends.
Dercylidas was not slow to perceive and turn to account the jealousy
which subsisted between Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus. Coming to terms
with the former, he marched into the territory of the latter,
preferring, as he said, to be at war with one of the pair at a time,
rather than the two together. His hostility, indeed, to Pharnabazus
was an old story, dating back to a period during the naval command[13]
of Lysander, when he was himself governor in Abydos; where, thanks to
Pharnabazus, he had got into trouble with his superior officer, and
had been made to stand "with his shield on his arm"--a stigma on his
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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 The Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Sheik threatened. It would have been suicide to have
disobeyed, so the two men turned and left the village, making
their way immediately to their own camp.
The Sheik returned to his tent; but he did not enter it. Instead he
walked to the side where little Meriem lay close to the goat skin
wall, very frightened. The Sheik stooped and clutched her by
the arm. Viciously he jerked her to her feet, dragged her to
the entrance of the tent, and shoved her viciously within.
Following her he again seized her, beating her ruthlessly.
"Stay within!" he growled. "Never let the strangers see thy face.
Next time you show yourself to strangers I shall kill you!"
The Son of Tarzan |
