| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle: that we have had no one to dine with us for this long time.
Our money groweth low in the purse, for no one hath come to pay
a reckoning for many a day. Now busk thee, good Stutely, and choose
thee six men, and get thee gone to Fosse Way or thereabouts,
and see that thou bringest someone to eat with us this evening.
Meantime we will prepare a grand feast to do whosoever may come
the greater honor. And stay, good Stutely. I would have thee
take Will Scarlet with thee, for it is meet that he should become
acquaint with the ways of the forest."
"Now do I thank thee, good master," quoth Stutely, springing to his feet,
"that thou hast chosen me for this adventure. Truly, my limbs
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: among the wanderers of the sea.
The reinsurer, the optimist of ill-luck and disaster, slaps his
pocket with satisfaction. The underwriter, who had been trying to
minimize the amount of impending loss, regrets his premature
pessimism. The ship has been stauncher, the skies more merciful,
the seas less angry, or perhaps the men on board of a finer temper
than he has been willing to take for granted.
"The ship So-and-so, bound to such a port, and posted as 'overdue,'
has been reported yesterday as having arrived safely at her
destination."
Thus run the official words of the reprieve addressed to the hearts
The Mirror of the Sea |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Case of the Golden Bullet by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: impossible for him, for many years after, to obtain honest
employment. But the world is richer, and safer, by Muller's
early misfortune. For it was this experience which threw him
back on his own peculiar talents for a livelihood, and drove him
into the police force. Had he been able to enter any other
profession, his genius might have been stunted to a mere pastime,
instead of being, as now, utilised for the public good.
Then, the red tape and bureaucratic etiquette which attaches to
every governmental department, puts the secret service men of the
Imperial police on a par with the lower ranks of the subordinates.
Muller's official rank is scarcely much higher than that of a
|
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 Amy Foster by Joseph Conrad: I say odious?--he was to all the countryside.
Every old woman in the village was up in arms.
Smith, coming upon him near the farm, promised
to break his head for him if he found him about
again. But he twisted his little black moustache
with such a bellicose air and rolled such big, black
fierce eyes at Smith that this promise came to noth-
ing. Smith, however, told the girl that she must
be mad to take up with a man who was surely wrong
in his head. All the same, when she heard him in
the gloaming whistle from beyond the orchard a
Amy Foster |
