| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Nada the Lily by H. Rider Haggard: because he loved her a little, but he sent for me, commanding me to
attend her, and when the child was born to cause its body to be
brought to him, according to custom, so that he might be sure that it
was dead. I bent to the earth before him, and went to do his bidding
with a heavy heart, for was not Baleka my sister? and would not her
child be of my own blood? Still, it must be so, for Chaka's whisper
was as the shout of other kings, and, if we dared to disobey, then our
lives and the lives of all in our kraals would answer for it. Better
that an infant should die than that we should become food for jackals.
Presently I came to the Emposeni, the place of the king's wives, and
declared the king's word to the soldiers on guard. They lowered their
Nada the Lily |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain: to drinking, maltreat his motherless children, drift into other evil courses,
go steadily from bad to worse----'
'Yes, that's it,' interrupted Rogers, fervently, 'I've seen it
a hundred times--yes, more than a hundred. You put money into
the hands of a man like that, if you want to destroy him, that's all;
just put money into his hands, it's all you've got to do;
and if it don't pull him down, and take all the usefulness out of him,
and all the self-respect and everything, then I don't know human nature--
ain't that so, Thompson? And even if we were to give him a THIRD
of it; why, in less than six months--'
'Less than six WEEKS, you'd better say!' said I, warming up and breaking in.
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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 Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs: all on edge. What with all these ripotamuses and man eating
geniuses that Mister Philander been telling about--Lord, it
ain't no wonder we all get nervous prosecution."
Jane crossed the little room, laughing, and kissing the
faithful woman, bid Esmeralda good night.
Chapter 23
Brother Men.
When D'Arnot regained consciousness, he found himself
lying upon a bed of soft ferns and grasses beneath a
little "A" shaped shelter of boughs.
At his feet an opening looked out upon a green sward, and at a
Tarzan of the Apes |
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 Father Sergius by Leo Tolstoy: 'In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost!'--she heard his voice from behind the partition. 'Go!'
She burst into sobs and left the cell. The lawyer came forward
to meet her.
'Well, I see I have lost the bet. It can't be helped. Where will
you sit?'
'It is all the same to me.'
She took a seat in the sledge, and did not utter a word all the
way home.
A year later she entered a convent as a novice, and lived a
strict life under the direction of the hermit Arseny, who wrote
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