| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence: She popped it in, and blushed.
"You ARE nice!" he said.
"Well," she answered, "we thought you looked overcast,
and they dared me offer you a chocolate."
"I don't mind if I have another--another sort," he said.
And presently they were all laughing together.
It was nine o'clock when he got home, falling dark. He entered
the house in silence. His mother, who had been waiting,
rose anxiously.
"I told her," he said.
"I'm glad," replied the mother, with great relief.
Sons and Lovers |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley: peaks are made all black and ugly among the clouds, ready to burst
in smoke and fire. South of them again, there is a long gap, and
then another line of red dots--Arequiba, Chipicani, Gualatieri,
Atacama,--as high as, or higher than those in Quito; and this,
remember, is the other country which has just been shaken. On the
sea-shore below those volcanos stood the hapless city of Arica,
whose ruins we saw in the picture. Then comes another gap; and
then a line of more volcanos in Chili, at the foot of which
happened that fearful earthquake of 1835 (besides many more) of
which you will read some day in that noble book The Voyage of the
Beagle; and so the line of dots runs down to the southernmost
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Mugambi, heeding the commands of his mistress, though still doubtful
of the wisdom of his action, started off toward the south, with Jones
and Sullivan at his heels.
No sooner had he disappeared than Schmidt rose and darted north
into the jungle, and a few minutes later the face of Kai Shang
of Fachan appeared at the edge of the clearing. Schneider saw
the Chinaman, and motioned to him that the coast was clear.
Jane Clayton and the Mosula woman were sitting at the
opening of the former's tent, their backs toward the
approaching ruffians. The first intimation that either
had of the presence of strangers in camp was the sudden
The Beasts of Tarzan |
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 Albert Savarus by Honore de Balzac: keenly at the lady who had interrupted him, in such a way as to
suggest that there was something he would not tell, "and especially
after hearing him this morning reply to one of the bigwigs of the
Paris Bar, I believe that this man, who may be five-and-thirty, will
by and by make a great sensation."
"Why should we discuss him? You have gained your action, and paid
him," said Madame de Watteville, watching her daughter, who, all the
time the Vicar-General had been speaking, seemed to hang on his lips.
The conversation changed, and no more was heard of Albert Savaron.
The portrait sketched by the cleverest of the Vicars-General of the
diocese had all the greater charm for Rosalie because there was a
Albert Savarus |
