| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini: make a so great difference. Where is t'e guard, Wentwort'?"
"I hear them," answered the captain, and from the street came the
tramp of their marching feet.
Feversham turned again to Blake. "T'e affaire `as `appen' so," he said,
between question and assertion, summing up the situation as he
understood it. "T'is rogue," and he pointed to Richard, "`ave betray
your plan to `is sister, who betray it to `er `usband, who save t'e
Duc de Monmoot'. N'est-ce pas?"
"That is so," said Blake, and Ruth scarcely thought it worth while to
add that she had heard of the plot not only from her brother, but from
Blake as well. After all, Blake's attitude in the matter, his action
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from My Antonia by Willa Cather: The floor was of hard cement. Up under the wooden ceiling
there were little half-windows with white curtains, and pots
of geraniums and wandering Jew in the deep sills. As I entered
the kitchen, I sniffed a pleasant smell of gingerbread baking.
The stove was very large, with bright nickel trimmings,
and behind it there was a long wooden bench against the wall,
and a tin washtub, into which grandmother poured hot and cold water.
When she brought the soap and towels, I told her that I was used
to taking my bath without help. `Can you do your ears, Jimmy?
Are you sure? Well, now, I call you a right smart little boy.'
It was pleasant there in the kitchen. The sun shone into my
My Antonia |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: man.'
A shock of repulsion struck and shook the captain; a scream
rose almost to his lips; had he uttered it, he might have cast
himself at the same moment on the body of Huish, might have
picked him up, and flung him down, and wiped the cabin with
him, in a frenzy of cruelty that seemed half moral. But the
moment passed; and the abortive crisis left the man weaker. The
stakes were so high--the pearls on the one hand--starvation
and shame on the other. Ten years of pearls! The imagination of
Davis translated them into a new, glorified existence for himself
and his family. The seat of this new life must be in London;
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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 Tik-Tok of Oz by L. Frank Baum: now to come forth and face us, who are your
friends. None here will laugh or jeer, however
unhandsome you may be."
"No, indeed," they all added pleadingly.
But the Ugly One refused the invitation.
"I cannot," said he; "indeed, I cannot face
strangers, ugly as I am."
Shaggy Man turned to the group surrounding him.
"What shall I do?" he asked in sorrowful tones.
"I cannot leave my dear brother here, and he
refuses to come out of that house and face us.
Tik-Tok of Oz |
