| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Call of the Wild by Jack London: missing and Buck covered with wounds. He drew him to the fire and
by its light pointed them out.
"Dat Spitz fight lak hell," said Perrault, as he surveyed the
gaping rips and cuts.
"An' dat Buck fight lak two hells," was Francois's answer. "An'
now we make good time. No more Spitz, no more trouble, sure."
While Perrault packed the camp outfit and loaded the sled, the
dog-driver proceeded to harness the dogs. Buck trotted up to the
place Spitz would have occupied as leader; but Francois, not
noticing him, brought Sol-leks to the coveted position. In his
judgment, Sol-leks was the best lead-dog left. Buck sprang upon
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: with the best possible facilities for seeing Japan, America,
Great Britain, Germany, France, and Italy, and who has been in
even more intimate contact with the diplomats and other
foreigners than has Prince Chun himself. My wife and I have dined
with him and the Princess both at the American legation and at
his own palace, and when we left China, they came together in
their brougham to bid us good-bye, a thing which could not have
happened a few years ago, and an indication of how wide open the
doors in China are now standing.
On the whole, therefore, Prince Chun begins his regency with a
brighter outlook for his foreign relations than any other ruler
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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 Amy Foster by Joseph Conrad: this murderous disaster, which, as you may remem-
ber, had its gruesome celebrity. The wind would
have prevented the loudest outcries from reaching
the shore; there had been evidently no time for sig-
nals of distress. It was death without any sort of
fuss. The Hamburg ship, filling all at once, cap-
sized as she sank, and at daylight there was not
even the end of a spar to be seen above water. She
was missed, of course, and at first the Coastguard-
men surmised that she had either dragged her an-
chor or parted her cable some time during the
Amy Foster |
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 In Darkest England and The Way Out by General William Booth: they can.
If we are to bring back the sense of brotherhood to the world,
we must confront this difficulty. God, it was said in old time,
setteth the desolate in families; but somehow, in our time,
the desolate wander alone in the midst of a careless and unsympathising
world. "There is no-one who cares for my soul. There is no creature
loves me, and if I die no one will pity me," is surely one of the
bitterest cries that can burst from a breaking heart. One of the
secrets of the success of the Salvation Army is, that the friendless of
the world find friends in it. There is not one sinner in the world--
no matter how degraded and dirty he may be--whom my people will not
In Darkest England and The Way Out |
