| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: son of a Polish gentleman, and knew nothing
about agriculture and land management; but
when he acquired an estate of his own, he man-
aged it so well that after fifteen years the waste
piece of land, consisting of three hundred acres,
became a model estate. All the buildings, from
the dwelling-house to the corn stores and the shed
for the fire engine were solidly built, had iron
roofs, and were painted at the right time. In the
tool house carts, ploughs, harrows, stood in per-
fect order, the harness was well cleaned and oiled.
The Forged Coupon |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Maitre Cornelius by Honore de Balzac: where venerable habits are abolished slowly. Though the lights were
not put out, the watchmen of each quarter stretched the chains across
the streets. Many doors were locked; the steps of a few belated
burghers, attended by their servants, armed to the teeth and bearing
lanterns, echoed in the distance. Soon the town, garroted as it were,
seemed to be asleep, and safe from robbers and evil-doers, except
through the roofs. In those days the roofs of houses were much
frequented after dark. The streets were so narrow in the provincial
towns, and even in Paris, that robbers could jump from the roofs on
one side to those on the other. This perilous occupation was long the
amusement of King Charles IX. in his youth, if we may believe the
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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 Tapestried Chamber by Walter Scott: the accommodation which the castle afforded for my friends was
not extensive enough to permit the inhabitants of the invisible
world to retain possession of a comfortable sleeping apartment.
I therefore caused the Tapestried Chamber, as we call it, to be
opened, and, without destroying its air of antiquity, I had such
new articles of furniture placed in it as became the modern
times. Yet, as the opinion that the room was haunted very
strongly prevailed among the domestics, and was also known in the
neighbourhood and to many of my friends, I feared some prejudice
might be entertained by the first occupant of the Tapestried
Chamber, which might tend to revive the evil report which it had
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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 Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: said to the ruined stranger all of the words contained in the test-
remark, including the disparaging fifteen. [Sensation.] When the
late publication was made I recalled them, and I resolved to claim
the sack of coin, for by every right I was entitled to it. Now I
will ask you to consider this point, and weigh it well; that
stranger's gratitude to me that night knew no bounds; he said
himself that he could find no words for it that were adequate, and
that if he should ever be able he would repay me a thousandfold.
Now, then, I ask you this; could I expect--could I believe--could I
even remotely imagine--that, feeling as he did, he would do so
ungrateful a thing as to add those quite unnecessary fifteen words
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
