| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Adieu by Honore de Balzac: sabre in his well hand, with his pistols in his belt, gathered up the
reins with the other hand and mounted one horse while the grenadier
mounted the other. The orderly, whose feet were frozen, was thrown
inside the carriage, across the general and the countess. Excited by
pricks from a sabre, the horses drew the carriage rapidly, with a sort
of fury, to the plain, where innumerable obstacles awaited it. It was
impossible to force a way without danger of crushing the sleeping men,
women, and even children, who refused to move when the grenadier awoke
them. In vain did Monsieur de Sucy endeavor to find the swathe cut by
the rear-guard through the mass of human beings; it was already
obliterated, like the wake of a vessel through the sea. They could
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tales of the Klondyke by Jack London: But somehow, as such things will, it leaked out, and all Forty
Mile, which had hitherto speculated on Joy Molineau's choice
between her two latest lovers, now hazarded bets and guesses as to
which would win in the forthcoming race. The camp divided itself
into two factions, and every effort was put forth in order that
their respective favorites might be the first in at the finish.
There was a scramble for the best dogs the country could afford,
for dogs, and good ones, were essential, above all, to success.
And it meant much to the victor. Besides the possession of a
wife, the like of which had yet to be created, it stood for a mine
worth a million at least.
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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 Underdogs by Mariano Azuela: "Why in hell are you hanging on to that poison?"
Pancracio asked Blondie who appeared dragging a pris-
oner.
"Do you want to know why? Because it's a long time
since I've had a good look at a man's face when a rope
tightens around his neck!"
The fat prisoner breathed with difficulty as he fol-
lowed Blondie on foot; his face was sunburnt, his eyes
red; his forehead beaded with sweat, his wrists tightly
bound together.
"Here, Anastasio, lend me your lasso. Mine's not
The Underdogs |
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 One Basket by Edna Ferber: wall at the opposite side of the room. Flora drew her breath in
between her teeth as though a knife had entered her heart.
Adele still stood at the side of the bed, looking at her mother.
Her hands were clasped behind her, too. In that moment, as she
stood there, she resembled her mother and her father so
startlingly and simultaneously that the two, had they been less
absorbed in their own affairs, must have marked it.
The girl's head came up stiffly. "Listen. I'm going to marry
Daniel Oakley."
Daniel Oakley was fifty, and a friend of her father's. For years
he had been coming to the house and for years she had ridiculed
One Basket |
