| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: his soldierly fashion.
"But as for me, the dying man's fantastical enumeration of his riches
still sounding in my ears, and my eyes, following the direction of
his, rested on that heap of ashes. It struck me that it was very
large. I took the tongs, and as soon as I stirred the cinders, I felt
the metal underneath, a mass of gold and silver coins, receipts taken
during his illness, doubtless, after he grew too feeble to lock the
money up, and could trust no one to take it to the bank for him.
" 'Run for the justice of the peace,' said I, turning to the old
pensioner, 'so that everything can be sealed here at once.'
"Gobseck's last words and the old portress' remarks had struck me. I
Gobseck |
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 Tales of the Klondyke by Jack London: it misses."
A cup of water served the purpose, and the child was laid away in
a secure corner of the barricade. The men built the fire, and the
evening meal was cooked.
The sun hurried round to the north, sinking closer to the horizon.
The heavens in that quarter grew red and bloody. The shadows
lengthened, the light dimmed, and in the sombre recesses of the
forest life slowly died away. Even the wild fowl in the river
softened their raucous chatter and feigned the nightly farce of
going to bed. Only the tribesmen increased their clamor, war-
drums booming and voices raised in savage folk songs. But as the
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