| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Time Machine by H. G. Wells: into dust. One corner I saw was charred and shattered; perhaps,
I thought, by an explosion among the specimens. In another place
was a vast array of idols--Polynesian, Mexican, Grecian,
Phoenician, every country on earth I should think. And here,
yielding to an irresistible impulse, I wrote my name upon the
nose of a steatite monster from South America that particularly
took my fancy.
`As the evening drew on, my interest waned. I went through
gallery after gallery, dusty, silent, often ruinous, the exhibits
sometimes mere heaps of rust and lignite, sometimes fresher. In
one place I suddenly found myself near the model of a tin-mine,
The Time Machine |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: oats and had strewn over the snow, colouring it. Having
searched to the right also, he returned to the sledge, brushed
the snow from his coat, shook it out of his boots, and seated
himself once more.
'We must go to the right,' he said decidedly. 'The wind was
blowing on our left before, but now it is straight in my face.
Drive to the right,' he repeated with decision.
Vasili Andreevich took his advice and turned to the right, but
still there was no road. They went on in that direction for
some time. The wind was as fierce as ever and it was snowing
lightly.
Master and Man |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: intervals, married the same man, and that Alison would lose her good
looks if she was not careful.
"I say she's worried, and I stick to it," he said, as he threw the
lines to a groom and prepared to get out. "You know her, and she's
the kind of girl you think you can read like a book. But you can't;
don't fool yourself. Take a good look at her at dinner, Blake; you
won't lose your head like the other fellows - and then tell me what's
wrong with her. We're mighty fond of Allie."
He went ponderously up the steps, for Sam had put on weight since
I knew him. At the door he turned around. "Do you happen to know
the MacLure's at Seal Harbor?" he asked irrelevantly, but Mrs. Sam
The Man in Lower Ten |
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 A Princess of Parms by Edgar Rice Burroughs: was most harsh and brutal. When she held her, she sunk her
rudimentary nails into the poor girl's flesh, or twisted her
arm in a most painful manner. When it was necessary to
move from one spot to another she either jerked her roughly,
or pushed her headlong before her. She seemed to be venting
upon this poor defenseless creature all the hatred, cruelty,
ferocity, and spite of her nine hundred years, backed by
unguessable ages of fierce and brutal ancestors.
The other woman was less cruel because she was entirely
indifferent; if the prisoner had been left to her alone, and
fortunately she was at night, she would have received no
|
