| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Beauty and The Beast by Bayard Taylor: with drunken tumult.
The Princess Helena felt that her beauty no longer possessed the
potency of its first surprise. It must now be a contest of nature
with nature, spiritual with animal power. The struggle would be
perilous, she foresaw, but she did not shrink; she rather sought
the earliest occasion to provoke it.
That occasion came. Some slight disappointment brought on one of
the old paroxysms of rage, and the ox-like bellow of Prince Alexis
rang through the castle. Boris was absent, but Helena delayed not
a moment to venture into his father's presence. She found him in
a hall over-looking the court-yard, with his terrible whip in
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ion by Plato: derives a mysterious power from the poet; and the poet, in like manner, is
inspired by the God. The poets and their interpreters may be compared to a
chain of magnetic rings suspended from one another, and from a magnet. The
magnet is the Muse, and the ring which immediately follows is the poet
himself; from him are suspended other poets; there is also a chain of
rhapsodes and actors, who also hang from the Muses, but are let down at the
side; and the last ring of all is the spectator. The poet is the inspired
interpreter of the God, and this is the reason why some poets, like Homer,
are restricted to a single theme, or, like Tynnichus, are famous for a
single poem; and the rhapsode is the inspired interpreter of the poet, and
for a similar reason some rhapsodes, like Ion, are the interpreters of
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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 Mad King by Edgar Rice Burroughs: of her offspring. Aside from the fact that Peter of Blentz is
out of the question, is the more important fact that your
line is closer to the throne than his. He knew it, and this
knowledge was the real basis of his hatred of you."
As the old chancellor ceased speaking he drew his sword
and raised it on high above his head.
"The king is dead," he said. "Long live the king!"
XVI
KING OF LUTHA
BARNEY CUSTER, of Beatrice, had no desire to be king of
Lutha. He lost no time in saying so. All that he wanted of
The Mad King |
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 Gentle Grafter by O. Henry: fumes of nitro-muriatic acid, and heard something heavy fall on the
floor below us, and a man swearing.
"'Cheer up, Andy,' says I. 'We're in a rural community. Somebody has
just tested a gold brick downstairs. We'll go out and get what's
coming to us from a farmer; and then yoicks! and away.'
"Farmers was always a kind of reserve fund to me. Whenever I was in
hard luck I'd go to the crossroads, hook a finger in a farmer's
suspender, recite the prospectus of my swindle in a mechanical kind of
a way, look over what he had, give him back his keys, whetstone and
papers that was of no value except to owner, and stroll away without
asking any questions. Farmers are not fair game to me as high up in
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