| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: Paquita's exclamation had been all the more horrible to him, in that
it had dethroned him from the sweetest triumph which had ever
flattered his man's vanity. Hope, love, and every emotion had been
exalted with him, all had lit up within his heart and his
intelligence, then these torches illuminating his life had been
extinguished by a cold wind. Paquita, in her stupefaction of grief,
had only strength enough to give the signal for departure.
"What is the use of that!" she said, throwing away the bandage. "If he
does not love me, if he hates me, it is all over."
She waited for one look, did not obtain it, and fell, half dead. The
mulatto cast a glance at Henri, so horribly significant, that, for the
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: mark for a shot. And, to tell the truth, they expected every moment to hear
a report. Five minutes after leaving the cart, Gideon Spilett and Pencroft
arrived at the edge of the wood before the clearing beyond which rose the
palisade.
They stopped. A few straggling beams still fell on the field clear of
trees. Thirty feet distant was the gate of the corral, which appeared to be
closed. This thirty feet, which it was necessary to cross from the wood to
the palisade, constituted the dangerous zone, to borrow a ballistic term:
in fact, one or more bullets fired from behind the palisade might knock
over any one who ventured on to this zone. Gideon Spilett and the sailor
were not men to draw back, but they knew that any imprudence on their part,
The Mysterious Island |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum: her arms, watching the sad fate of her comrades and thinking it
would soon be her turn. The leader of the Winged Monkeys flew up
to her, his long, hairy arms stretched out and his ugly face
grinning terribly; but he saw the mark of the Good Witch's kiss
upon her forehead and stopped short, motioning the others not to
touch her.
"We dare not harm this little girl," he said to them, "for she
is protected by the Power of Good, and that is greater than the
Power of Evil. All we can do is to carry her to the castle of the
Wicked Witch and leave her there."
So, carefully and gently, they lifted Dorothy in their
The Wizard of Oz |
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 Crito by Plato: awakening me?
CRITO: I should not have liked myself, Socrates, to be in such great
trouble and unrest as you are--indeed I should not: I have been watching
with amazement your peaceful slumbers; and for that reason I did not awake
you, because I wished to minimize the pain. I have always thought you to
be of a happy disposition; but never did I see anything like the easy,
tranquil manner in which you bear this calamity.
SOCRATES: Why, Crito, when a man has reached my age he ought not to be
repining at the approach of death.
CRITO: And yet other old men find themselves in similar misfortunes, and
age does not prevent them from repining.
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