| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Finished by H. Rider Haggard: Those oxen are tired out and footsore, so we might be able to
catch them up."
He shook his head. "We have very few people here, and by the
time that you could get assistance from the Camp at Barberton, if
the Commandant is able and willing to give you any, which I
rather doubt, they will be far away. Moreover," he added,
dropping his voice, "let us come to an understanding. You are
most welcome to any help or hospitality that I can offer, but if
you wish to do more fighting I must ask you to go elsewhere. As
I have told you, we are peaceful men who trade with these people,
and do not wish to be involved in a quarrel with them, which
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbot: my Priest, Philosopher, and Friend -- some yet more spacious Space,
some more dimensionable Dimensionality, from the vantage-ground
of which we shall look down together upon the revealed insides
of Solid things, and where thine own intestines, and those of thy
kindred Spheres, will lie exposed to the view of the poor wandering
exile from Flatland, to whom so much has already been vouchsafed.
SPHERE. Pooh! Stuff! Enough of this trifling! The time is short,
and much remains to be done before you are fit to proclaim the Gospel
of Three Dimensions to your blind benighted countrymen in Flatland.
I. Nay, gracious Teacher, deny me not what I know it is
in thy power to perform. Grant me but one glimpse of thine interior,
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Vailima Letters by Robert Louis Stevenson: and acts upon it like a gentleman or a fine old barbarian,
the better for himself.
There is my usual puzzle about publishers. Chatto ought to
have it, as he has all the other essays; these all belong to
me, and Chatto publishes on terms. Longman has forgotten the
terms we are on; let him look up our first correspondence,
and he will see I reserved explicitly, as was my habit, the
right to republish as I choose. Had the same arrangement
with Henley, Magazine of Art, and with Tulloch Fraser's. -
For any necessary note or preface, it would be a real service
if you would undertake the duty yourself. I should love a
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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 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: eternal moan of the proprietor: "What een hell do you sink I pie
fife dolla a week for? Play? No, py damn." She contemplated
Pete's man-subduing eyes and noted that wealth and prosperity was
indicated by his clothes. She imagined a future, rose-tinted,
because of its distance from all that she previously had experienced.
As to the present she perceived only vague reasons to be
miserable. Her life was Pete's and she considered him worthy of
the charge. She would be disturbed by no particular apprehensions,
so long as Pete adored her as he now said he did. She did not feel
like a bad woman. To her knowledge she had never seen any better.
At times men at other tables regarded the girl furtively.
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |
