| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: fallen upon Fix had he not been held back by some policemen.
Aouda was thunderstruck at the suddenness of an event which
she could not understand. Passepartout explained to her how
it was that the honest and courageous Fogg was arrested as a robber.
The young woman's heart revolted against so heinous a charge,
and when she saw that she could attempt to do nothing to save
her protector, she wept bitterly.
As for Fix, he had arrested Mr. Fogg because it was his duty,
whether Mr. Fogg were guilty or not.
The thought then struck Passepartout, that he was the cause of this
new misfortune! Had he not concealed Fix's errand from his master?
Around the World in 80 Days |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: priced above its proper value. I think you will tire first, all the same.
Some day you will look at your friend, and he will seem to you to be a little
out of drawing, or you won't like his tone of colour, or something. You will
bitterly re-
proach him in your own heart, and seriously think that he has behaved
very badly to you. The next time he calls, you will be perfectly cold
and indifferent. It will be a great pity, for it will alter you.
What you have told me is quite a romance, a romance of art one might call it,
and the worst of having a romance of any kind is that it leaves one
so unromantic."
"Harry, don't talk like that. As long as I live, the personality
The Picture of Dorian Gray |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: a sling, and the hand was swathed up in a regular bundle so that
he held his cards under his right arm or in the crook of his
elbow while he played with the left. The ship was rolling
heavily. They could not stand up, nor drink tea, nor take their
medicines.
"Were you an officer's servant?" Pavel Ivanitch asked Gusev.
"Yes, an officer's servant."
"My God, my God!" said Pavel Ivanitch, and he shook his head
mournfully. "To tear a man out of his home, drag him twelve
thousand miles away, then to drive him into consumption and. . .
and what is it all for, one wonders? To turn him into a servant
|
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 Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: they would do as you do, and arm themselves for my destruction.
Shall I not then hate them who abhor me? I will keep no terms with
my enemies. I am miserable, and they shall share my wretchedness.
Yet it is in your power to recompense me, and deliver them from an
evil which it only remains for you to make so great, that not only
you and your family, but thousands of others, shall be swallowed up
in the whirlwinds of its rage. Let your compassion be moved,
and do not disdain me. Listen to my tale; when you have heard that,
abandon or commiserate me, as you shall judge that I deserve.
But hear me. The guilty are allowed, by human laws, bloody as
they are, to speak in their own defence before they are condemned.
Frankenstein |
