| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas: the king who dropped his eyes; after which his Majesty,
grumbling, entered his apartment.
"Matters go but badly," said Athos, smiling; "and we shall not be
made Chevaliers of the Order this time."
"Wait here ten minutes," said M. de Treville; "and if at the
expiration of ten minutes you do not see me come out, return to
my hotel, for it will be useless for you to wait for me longer."
The four young men waited ten minutes, a quarter of an hour,
twenty minutes; and seeing that M. de Treville did not return,
went away very uneasy as to what was going to happen.
M. de Treville entered the king's cabinet boldly, and found his
The Three Musketeers |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Iron Puddler by James J. Davis: "No. It is an alley only on paper. There are no residences
there and nobody needs the alley but us."
"But you think because I am a labor man and you are a mill
owner, and you and I have had many hot fights over wage
questions, that I will fight you on this just for spite?"
"Such things have been done."
"Well, I am not spiteful. Many a time I have made the men mad
at me by being fair to you. Spite and malice should have no place
in dealings between employer and employee. If you had a chance,
would you give the men a dirty deal just for spite?"
"We're business men," he said. "And we never act through
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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 The Land that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: I tried to recall him, but he would pay no attention to me, and as
I couldn't see him sacrificed, I, too, stopped and faced the monster.
The creature appeared to be more impressed with Nobs than by us and
our firearms, for it stopped as the Airedale dashed at it growling,
and struck at him viciously with its powerful jaws.
Nobs, though, was lightning by comparison with the slow thinking
beast and dodged his opponent's thrust with ease. Then he raced
to the rear of the tremendous thing and seized it by the tail.
There Nobs made the error of his life. Within that mottled organ
were the muscles of a Titan, the force of a dozen mighty
catapults, and the owner of the tail was fully aware of the
The Land that Time Forgot |
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 Melmoth Reconciled by Honore de Balzac: "So that is what you do with your love-letters, is it?" asked
Castanier.
"Oh goodness, yes," said Aquilina; "is it not the best way of keeping
them safe? Besides, fire should go to fire, as water makes for the
river."
"You are talking as if it were a real love-letter, Naqui----"
"Well, am I not handsome enough to receive them?" she said, holding up
her forehead for a kiss. There was a carelessness in her manner that
would have told any man less blind than Castanier that it was only a
piece of conjugal duty, as it were, to give this joy to the cashier,
but use and wont had brought Castanier to the point where clear-
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