| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: but by the ladder placed up to the side of the hill, and then
lifted up, and placed again from the first stage up to the top: so
that when the ladder was taken down, nothing but what had wings or
witchcraft to assist it could come at them. This was excellently
well contrived: nor was it less than what they afterwards found
occasion for, which served to convince me, that as human prudence
has the authority of Providence to justify it, so it has doubtless
the direction of Providence to set it to work; and if we listened
carefully to the voice of it, I am persuaded we might prevent many
of the disasters which our lives are now, by our own negligence,
subjected to.
Robinson Crusoe |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: visible to us, being fully sixty miles away.
From our elevation, and in a clearer atmosphere, it would have
stood out distinctly; but the air of Caspak is heavy with
moisture, with the result that distant objects are blurred
and indistinct. Ajor also told me that the mainland east of Oo-oh
was her land--the land of the Galu. She pointed out the cliffs
at its southern boundary, which mark the frontier, south of
which lies the country of Kro-lu--the archers. We now had but
to pass through the balance of the Band-lu territory and that
of the Kro-lu to be within the confines of her own land; but
that meant traversing thirty-five miles of hostile country
The People That Time Forgot |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Desert Gold by Zane Grey: past buried forever in two lonely graves. The haunting shadow left
her eyes. Gale believed he would never forget the sweetness, the
wonder, the passion of her embrace when she called him her boy and
gave him her blessing.
The little wrinkled padre who married Gale and Nell performed the
ceremoney as he told his beads, without interest or penetration,
and went his way, leaving happiness behind.
"Shore I was a sick man," Ladd said, "an' darn near a dead one, but
I'm agoin' to get well. Mebbe I'll be able to ride again someday.
Nell, I lay it to you. An' I'm agoin' to kiss you an' wish you
all the joy there is in this world. An', Dick, as Yaqui says,
Desert Gold |
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 Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: instantly--you could just swing it away from the fire in no time, and not run
the risk of burning face or hands, or petticoats, if you belong to the
petticoat family.`
"Now," panted Tattine, for it was her turn to be breathless with running,
"I'll break the sugar if you two will make the fire, but Rudolph's to light it
and he's the only one who is to lean over it and put the wood on when it's
needed. Mamma says there is to be a very strict rule about that, because
skirts and fluffy hair like mine and Mabel's are very dangerous about a
fire," and then Tattine proceeded to roll the maple sugar in the brown paper
so as to have two or three thicknesses about it, and then, laying it upon a
flat stone, began to pound and break it with the hammer.
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