| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum: in a row beside their happy mother.
The Princesses were named, Evanna, Evrose, Evella, Evirene and Evedna,
while the Princes were Evrob, Evington, Evardo and Evroland. Of these
Evardo was the eldest and would inherit his father's throne and be
crowned King of Ev when he returned to his own country. He was a
grave and quiet youth, and would doubtless rule his people wisely and
with justice.
Billina, having restored all of the royal family of Ev to their proper
forms, now began to select the green ornaments which were the
transformations of the people of Oz. She had little trouble in
finding these, and before long all the twenty-six officers, as well as
Ozma of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Heart of the West by O. Henry: Hot weinerwurst and sauerkraut were being served to purchasers of
beer. Curly shuffled to the end of the bar, coughed hollowly, and told
Schwegel that he was a Detroit cabinet-maker out of a job.
It followed as the night the day that he got his schooner and lunch.
"Was you acquainted maybe with Heinrich Strauss in Detroit?" asked
Schwegel.
"Did I know Heinrich Strauss?" repeated Curly, affectionately. "Why,
say, 'Bo, I wish I had a dollar for every game of pinochle me and
Heine has played on Sunday afternoons."
More beer and a second plate of steaming food was set before the
diplomat. And then Curly, knowing to a fluid-drachm how far a "con"
Heart of the West |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Extracts From Adam's Diary by Mark Twain: beast was destroying its neighbor. I knew what it meant--Eve had
eaten that fruit, and death was come into the world. ... The
tigers ate my horse, paying no attention when I ordered them to
desist, and they would even have eaten me if I had stayed--which
I didn't, but went away in much haste. ... I found this place,
outside the Park, and was fairly comfortable for a few days, but
she has found me out. Found me out, and has named the place
Tonawanda--says it looks like that. In fact, I was not sorry she
came, for there are but meagre pickings here, and she brought some
of those apples. I was obliged to eat them, I was so hungry. It
was against my principles, but I find that principles have no real
|
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 Desert Gold by Zane Grey: Thorne an' hurried with him back on Uncle Sam's land. Thorne was
half naked, black an' blue all over, thin as a rail. He looked
mighty sick when I seen him first. That was a little after midday.
He was given food an' drink. Shore he seemed a starved man.
But he picked up wonderful, an' by the time Jim came along he was
wantin' to start for Forlorn River. So was Nell. By main strength
as much as persuasion we kept the two of them quiet till next
evenin' at dark.
"Well, we made as sneaky a start in the dark as Jim an' me could
manage, an' never hit the trail till we was miles from town.
Thorne's nerve held him up for a while. Then all at once he tumbled
Desert Gold |
