| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Tapestried Chamber by Walter Scott: feeling that I would rather face a battery than recall to my mind
the odious recollections of last night."
He paused a second time, and then perceiving that Lord Woodville
remained silent and in an attitude of attention, he commenced,
though not without obvious reluctance, the history of his night's
adventures in the Tapestried Chamber.
"I undressed and went to bed so soon as your lordship left me
yesterday evening; but the wood in the chimney, which nearly
fronted my bed, blazed brightly and cheerfully, and, aided by a
hundred exciting recollections of my childhood and youth, which
had been recalled by the unexpected pleasure of meeting your
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed by Edna Ferber: took another sibilant mouthful. "Any more of your back
talk and I'll drink it out of m' saucer an' blow on it
like the hefty party over there in the earrings is doin'.
Calm yerself an' try a Bismarck."
I picked up one of the flaky confections and eyed it
in despair. There were no plates except that on which
the cakes reposed.
"How does one eat them?" I inquired.
"Yuh don't really eat 'em. The motion is
more like inhalin'. T' eat 'em successful you really
ought t' get into a bath-tub half-filled with water,
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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 Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Deftly he removed the great pelt, for he had practiced
often on smaller animals. When the task was finished he
carried his trophy to the fork of a high tree, and there,
curling himself securely in a crotch, he fell into deep and
dreamless slumber.
What with loss of sleep, arduous exercise, and a full belly,
Tarzan of the Apes slept the sun around, awakening about
noon of the following day. He straightway repaired to the
carcass of Sabor, but was angered to find the bones picked
clean by other hungry denizens of the jungle.
Half an hour's leisurely progress through the forest
Tarzan of the Apes |
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 Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: did with a great deal of courage; upon which I rushed out of the
wood and showed myself, and Friday close at my foot. As soon as I
perceived they saw me, I shouted as loud as I could, and bade
Friday do so too, and running as fast as I could, which, by the
way, was not very fast, being loaded with arms as I was, I made
directly towards the poor victim, who was, as I said, lying upon
the beach or shore, between the place where they sat and the sea.
The two butchers who were just going to work with him had left him
at the surprise of our first fire, and fled in a terrible fright to
the seaside, and had jumped into a canoe, and three more of the
rest made the same way. I turned to Friday, and bade him step
Robinson Crusoe |
