| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: over the Stiltons, with whom, indeed, he was distantly connected,
his own first cousin having been married EN SECONDES NOCES to the
Sieur de Bulkeley, from whom, as every one knows, the Dukes of
Cheshire are lineally descended. Accordingly, he made arrangements
for appearing to Virginia's little lover in his celebrated
impersonation of 'The Vampire Monk, or, the Bloodless Benedictine,'
a performance so horrible that when old Lady Startup saw it, which
she did on one fatal New Year's Eve, in the year 1764, she went off
into the most piercing shrieks, which culminated in violent
apoplexy, and died in three days, after disinheriting the
Cantervilles, who were her nearest relations, and leaving all her
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tales of Unrest by Joseph Conrad: his existence. What impenetrable duplicity. Women--nothing but women
round him. Impossible to know. He experienced that heart-probing,
fiery sense of dangerous loneliness, which sometimes assails the
courage of a solitary adventurer in an unexplored country. The sight
of a man's face--he felt--of any man's face, would have been a
profound relief. One would know then--something--could understand.
. . . He would engage a butler as soon as possible. And then the end
of that dinner--which had seemed to have been going on for hours--the
end came, taking him violently by surprise, as though he had expected
in the natural course of events to sit at that table for ever and
ever.
Tales of Unrest |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Schoolmistress and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov: half-dead man, throw him on the bed, stifle him a little with the
pillow, and the most conscientious expert would find no sign
of a violent death. But let us first read what he has written
here. . . ."
The banker took the page from the table and read as follows:
"To-morrow at twelve o'clock I regain my freedom and the right to
associate with other men, but before I leave this room and see
the sunshine, I think it necessary to say a few words to you.
With a clear conscience I tell you, as before God, who beholds
me, that I despise freedom and life and health, and all that in
your books is called the good things of the world.
The Schoolmistress and Other Stories |
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 Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy: That Wildeve should have got command of the guineas
after all, and should rearrange the disposal of them,
placing Clym's share in Clym's wife's hands, because she
had been his own sweetheart, and might be so still,
was as irritating a pain as any that Mrs. Yeobright had
ever borne.
She instantly dismissed the wretched Christian from her
employ for his conduct in the affair; but, feeling quite
helpless and unable to do without him, told him afterwards
that he might stay a little longer if he chose.
Then she hastened off to Eustacia, moved by a much less
Return of the Native |
