| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Arizona Nights by Stewart Edward White: they see that little canvas shack and that well, they begun to
cheer up and move fast. And when they see that sign, "Water, two
bits a head," their eyes stuck out like two raw oysters.
Then come the kicks. What a howl they did raise, shorely. But
it didn't do no manner of good. Texas Pete didn't do nothin' but
sit there and smoke, with a kind of sulky gleam in one corner of
his eye. He didn't even take the trouble to answer, but his
Winchester lay across his lap. There wasn't no humour in the
situation for him.
"How much is your water for humans?" asks one emigrant.
"Can't you read that sign?" Texas Pete asks him.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Enemies of Books by William Blades: much to their own devices, they had invaded the library.
It was just after the Battle of Balaclava, and the heroism of
the combatants on that hard-fought field was in everybody's mouth.
So the mischievous young imps divided themselves into two opposing camps--
Britons and Russians. The Russian division was just inside the door,
behind ramparts formed of old folios and quartos taken from
the bottom shelves and piled to the height of about four feet.
It was a wall of old fathers, fifteenth century chronicles,
county histories, Chaucer, Lydgate, and such like. Some few yards off
were the Britishers, provided with heaps of small books as missiles,
with which they kept up a skirmishing cannonade against the foe.
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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 Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum: before they entered upon this field they saw three little mounds that
looked like graves, with a pretty headstone to each one of them.
"What is this?" asked Dorothy, in wonder.
"It's Jack Pumpkinhead's private graveyard," replied the Tin Woodman.
"But I thought nobody ever died in Oz," she said.
"Nor do they; although if one is bad, he may be condemned and killed
by the good citizens," he answered.
Dorothy ran over to the little graves and read the words engraved upon
the tombstones. The first one said:
Here Lies the Mortal Part of
JACK PUMPKINHEAD
The Road to Oz |
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 Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: we shall have to take his chains from him. It would be quite
impossible to sleep, with such a noise going on outside the
bedrooms.'
For the rest of the week, however, they were undisturbed, the only
thing that excited any attention being the continual renewal of the
blood-stain on the library floor. This certainly was very strange,
as the door was always locked at night by Mr. Otis, and the windows
kept closely barred. The chameleon-like colour, also, of the stain
excited a good deal of comment. Some mornings it was a dull
(almost Indian) red, then it would be vermilion, then a rich
purple, and once when they came down for family prayers, according
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