| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Fisherman's Luck by Henry van Dyke: and lend a charm to it. This does not mean that they are to take up
all the room there is. Suppose, for example, that a pair of them,
on Goat Island, put themselves in such a position as to completely
block out your view of Niagara. You cannot regard them with
gratitude. They even become a little tedious. Or suppose that you
are visiting at a country-house, and you find that you must not
enjoy the moonlight on the verandah because Augustus and Amanda are
murmuring in one corner, and that you must not go into the garden
because Louis and Lizzie are there, and that you cannot have a sail
on the lake because Richard and Rebecca have taken the boat.
Of course, unless you happen to be a selfish old curmudgeon, you
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pathology of Lying, Etc. by William and Mary Healy: she was 7 years old. She was the twin of a child who died early
and who never developed normally. Her mother said she seemed
smart enough in some ways; she had reached 7th grade before she
was 14, but even at that time she was a truant and would run off
to moving-picture shows at every opportunity. Her father was a
rascal and came of an immoral family. He had a criminal record,
and that was another reason why the mother felt this girl was
going to the bad. The mother herself was strong and healthy; she
was remarried. The existence of feeblemindedness, epilepsy, or
insanity on either side was denied.
We quickly observed by the physical conditions of this girl that
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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 St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson: with Mr. Romaine; the result of which will be to set your mind at
rest - and to make the holiest disorder in your master's plans. If
I judge you aright (for I find you a shrewd fellow), this will not
be at all to your mind. You know what a subordinate gets by
officiousness; if I can trust my memory, old Romaine has not at all
the face that I should care to see in anger; and I venture to
predict surprising results upon your weekly salary - if you are
paid by the week, that is. In short, let me go free, and 'tis an
end of the matter; take me to London, and 'tis only a beginning -
and, by my opinion, a beginning of troubles. You can take your
choice.'
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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 Edition of The Ambassadors by Henry James: perhaps, as he reflected, had he had to supply so many as on the
third of his short stay in London; an evening spent by Miss
Gostrey's side at one of the theatres, to which he had found
himself transported, without his own hand raised, on the mere
expression of a conscientious wonder. She knew her theatre, she
knew her play, as she had triumphantly known, three days running,
everything else, and the moment filled to the brim, for her
companion, that apprehension of the interesting which, whether or
no the interesting happened to filter through his guide, strained
now to its limits his brief opportunity. Waymarsh hadn't come with
them; he had seen plays enough, he signified, before Strether had
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