| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed by Edna Ferber: about it, and she wept, softly, and murmured: "Ach, das
arme baby! Like my little Oscar he is, without a
mother." I told Ernst about him too, and Blackie,
because I could not get his grave little face out of my
mind. I wondered if those who had charge of him now
would take the time to bathe the little body, and brush
the soft hair until it shone, and tie the gay plaid silk
tie as lovingly as "Daddy" Arnett of the Detention Home
had done.
Then it was that I, quite unwittingly, stepped into
Bennie's life.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Beauty and The Beast by Bayard Taylor: the recognition of this quality.
One day it was reported to him that Gregor, a merchant in the
bazaar at Kinesma, had cheated the wife of one of his serfs in the
purchase of a piece of cloth. Mounting his horse, he rode at once
to Gregor's booth, called for the cloth, and sent the entire piece
to the woman, in the merchant's name, as a confessed act of
reparation.
"Now, Gregor, my child," said he, as he turned his horse's head,
"have a care in future, and play me no more dishonest tricks. Do
you hear? I shall come and take your business in hand myself, if
the like happens again."
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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 Underground City by Jules Verne: One may, without much exaggeration, say that the history of this
country is written in gigantic characters of mountains and islands."
Nell listened, but these fighting stories made her sad.
Why all that bloodshed on plains which to her seemed enormous,
and where surely there must have been room for everybody?
The shores of the lake form a little harbor at Luss. Nell could
for a moment catch sight of the old tower of its ancient castle.
Then, the SINCLAIR turning northward, the tourists gazed upon Ben Lomond,
towering nearly 3,000 feet above the level of the lake.
"Oh, what a noble mountain!" cried Nell; "what a view there must
be from the top!"
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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: "'Put your money up, Labor,' says I. 'I never yet drew upon honest
toil for its hard-earned pittance. The dollars I get are surplus ones
that are burning the pockets of damfools and greenhorns. When I stand
on a street corner and sell a solid gold diamond ring to a yap for
$3.00, I make just $2.60. And I know he's going to give it to a girl
in return for all the benefits accruing from a $125.00 ring. His
profits are $122.00. Which of us is the biggest fakir?'
"'And when you sell a poor woman a pinch of sand for fifty cents to
keep her lamp from exploding,' says Bassett, 'what do you figure her
gross earnings to be, with sand at forty cents a ton?'
"'Listen,' says I. 'I instruct her to keep her lamp clean and well
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