| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: of a rising wind. `The horror! The horror!'
"`His last word--to live with,' she insisted. `Don't you understand I
loved him--I loved him--I loved him!'
"I pulled myself together and spoke slowly.
"`The last word he pronounced was--your name.'
"I heard a light sigh and then my heart stood still,
stopped dead short by an exulting and terrible cry,
by the cry of inconceivable triumph and of unspeakable pain.
`I knew it--I was sure!' . . . She knew. She was sure.
I heard her weeping; she had hidden her face in her hands.
It seemed to me that the house would collapse before I
Heart of Darkness |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Out of Time's Abyss by Edgar Rice Burroughs: draped the robe about her, carrying the cowl over her head.
He heard her gasp of astonishment when she realized the ingenuity
and boldness of his plan; then he directed her to adjust the other
pair of wings and the robe upon him. Working with strong, deft
fingers she soon had the work completed, and the two stepped out
upon the roof, to all intent and purpose genuine Wieroos. Besides his
pistol Bradley carried the sword of the slain Wieroo prophet, while
the girl was armed with the small blade of the red Wieroo.
Side by side they walked slowly across the roofs toward the north
edge of the city. Wieroos flapped above them and several times
they passed others walking or sitting upon the roofs. From the
Out of Time's Abyss |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Maid Marian by Thomas Love Peacock: something much more interesting, namely, a fine young outlaw leaning,
in the true Sherwood fashion, with his back against a tree.
The knight was preparing to ask the stranger a question, the answer
to which, if correctly given, would have relieved him from a doubt
that pressed heavily on his mind, as to whether he was in the right
road or the wrong, when the youth prevented the inquiry by saying:
"In God's name, sir knight, you are late to your meals.
My master has tarried dinner for you these three hours."
"I doubt," said the knight, "I am not he you wot of.
I am no where bidden to day and I know none in this vicinage."
"We feared," said the youth, "your memory would be treacherous:
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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 Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: The girl was gone, even as I told myself that she was an houri,
and that I, though a Christian, had been consigned by some error
to the paradise of Mohammed.
Then--a complete blank.
My head throbbed madly; my brain seemed to be clogged--inert; and though
my first, feeble movement was followed by the rattle of a chain, some moments
more elapsed ere I realized that the chain was fastened to a steel collar--
that the steel collar was clasped about my neck.
I moaned weakly.
"Smith!" I muttered, "Where are you? Smith!"
On to my knees I struggled, and the pain on the top of my skull grew
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
