| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tik-Tok of Oz by L. Frank Baum: The cows that manufacture milk for us must have
machinery fully as remarkable as that in Tik-Tok's
copper body, and perhaps you've noticed that--"
And then, before Shaggy could finish his speech,
the strong light of day suddenly broke upon them,
grew brighter, and completely enveloped them. The
dragon's claws no longer scraped against the metal
Tube, for he shot into the open air a hundred feet
or more and sailed so far away from the slanting
hole that when he landed it was on the peak of a
mountain and just over the entrance to the many
Tik-Tok of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Lesson of the Master by Henry James: down to me. Her maid brought it to me in the hall and I went to my
room with it. I hadn't thought of coming here, I do that so
little. But I don't sleep early, I always have to read an hour or
two. I sat down to your novel on the spot, without undressing,
without taking off anything but my coat. I think that's a sign my
curiosity had been strongly roused about it. I read a quarter of
an hour, as I tell you, and even in a quarter of an hour I was
greatly struck."
"Ah the beginning isn't very good - it's the whole thing!" said
Overt, who had listened to this recital with extreme interest.
"And you laid down the book and came after me?" he asked.
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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 Breaking Point by Mary Roberts Rinehart: pay three-twenty too, while I'm at it. Friend of mine there, going
with me. Yes, up to to-night."
As he turned away he saw the short, heavy figure of Wilkins coming
in. He stood back and watched. The sheriff went to the desk,
pulled the register toward him and ran over several pages of it.
Then he shoved it away, turned and saw him.
"Been away, haven't you?" he asked.
"Yes. I took a little horseback trip into the mountains. My knees
are still not on speaking terms.''
The Sheriff chuckled. Then he sobered.
"Come and sit down," he said. "I'm going to watch who goes in and
The Breaking Point |
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 The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: control of herself, and ran around like some mad creature.
Then all the women began to shout at the same time, each trying
to say two words to another's one, and using the vilest language
in the quarreller's vocabulary.
"You are such and such," shouted one of the women. "You are a
thief, a schlukha [a mean, dirty, low creature]; your
father-in-law is even now starving, and you have no shame. You
beggar, you borrowed my sieve and broke it. You made a large
hole in it, and did not buy me another."
"You have our scale-beam," cried another woman, "and must give it
back to me;" whereupon she seized the scale-beam and tried to
The Kreutzer Sonata |
