| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: asleep again still thinking of the strange words of
his fellow.
The following day he thought of them again, and without
any intention of disloyalty he mentioned to Gunto what
Tarzan had suggested about the eyes surrounding Goro,
and the possibility that sooner or later Numa would
charge the moon and devour him. To the apes all large
things in nature are male, and so Goro, being the largest
creature in the heavens by night, was, to them, a bull.
Gunto bit a sliver from a horny finger and recalled
the fact that Tarzan had once said that the trees talked
The Jungle Tales of Tarzan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart: in print.
I shall have to go back several years--thirteen, to be exact--to
start my story. At that time my brother died, leaving me his two
children. Halsey was eleven then, and Gertrude was seven. All
the responsibilities of maternity were thrust upon me suddenly;
to perfect the profession of motherhood requires precisely as
many years as the child has lived, like the man who started to
carry the calf and ended by walking along with the bull on his
shoulders. However, I did the best I could. When Gertrude got
past the hair-ribbon age, and Halsey asked for a scarf-pin and
put on long trousers--and a wonderful help that was to the
The Circular Staircase |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Koran: heavens shall be rolled up in His right hand! Celebrated be His
praise! and exalted be He above what they associate with Him! And
the trumpet shall be blown, and those who are in the heavens and in
the earth shall swoon, save whom God pleases. Then it shall be blown
again, and, lo! they shall stand up and look on. And the earth shall
beam with the light of its Lord, and the Book shall be set forth,
and the prophets and martyrs shall be brought; and it shall be decreed
between them in truth, and they shall not be wronged! And every soul
shall be paid for what it has done, and He knows best that which
they do; and those who misbelieve shall be driven to hell in troops;
and when they come there, its doors shall be opened, and its keepers
The Koran |
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 Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: But he hadn't the strength. Ransome, however,
observed to me one afternoon that the mate
"seemed to be picking up wonderfully."
"Did he talk any nonsense to you of late?" I
asked casually.
"No, sir." Ransome was startled by the direct
question; but, after a pause, he added equably:
"He told me this morning, sir, that he was sorry he
had to bury our late captain right in the ship's
way, as one may say, out of the Gulf."
"Isn't this nonsense enough for you?" I asked,
The Shadow Line |
