| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Blix by Frank Norris: didn't, Condy, it would make me out nothing more nor less than a
gambler. I wouldn't have dreamed of playing cards with you if I
had ever intended to keep one penny of your money. From the very
start I intended to keep it for you, and give it back to you so
soon as you would stop; and now you have a chance to put this
money to a good use. You don't have to stay on the 'Times' now.
You can't do your novel justice while you are doing your hack work
at the same time, and I do so want 'In Defiance of Authority' to
be a success. I've faith in you, Condy. I know if you got the
opportunity you would make a success."
|
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: He meant to carry that point without any pity. Why didn't she speak?
He feared passive resistance. She must. . . . Make her come. His frown
deepened, and he began to think of some effectual violence, when most
unexpectedly she said in a firm voice, "Yes, I can," and clutched the
chair-back again. He was relieved, and all at once her attitude ceased
to interest him. The important thing was that their life would begin
again with an every-day act--with something that could not be
misunderstood, that, thank God, had no moral meaning, no perplexity--
and yet was symbolic of their uninterrupted communion in the past--in
all the future. That morning, at that table, they had breakfast
together; and now they would dine. It was all over! What had happened
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 On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: beak and wattle of the different carriers, in the carriage and tail of our
fantails, &c., these being the points now mainly attended to by English
fanciers. Even in the sub-breeds, as in the short-faced tumbler, it is
notoriously difficult to breed them nearly to perfection, and frequently
individuals are born which depart widely from the standard. There may be
truly said to be a constant struggle going on between, on the one hand, the
tendency to reversion to a less modified state, as well as an innate
tendency to further variability of all kinds, and, on the other hand, the
power of steady selection to keep the breed true. In the long run
selection gains the day, and we do not expect to fail so far as to breed a
bird as coarse as a common tumbler from a good short-faced strain. But as
On the Origin of Species |
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 Fanny Herself by Edna Ferber: city cousins, mingling socially with their Gentile
neighbors, living well, spending their money freely, taking
a vast pride in the education of their children. But here
was Molly Brandeis, a Jewess, setting out to earn her living
in business, like a man. It was a thing to stir
Congregation Emanu-el to its depths. Jewish women, they
would tell you, did not work thus. Their husbands worked
for them, or their sons, or their brothers.
"Oh, I don't know," said Mrs. Brandeis, when she heard of
it. "I seem to remember a Jewess named Ruth who was left
widowed, and who gleaned in the fields for her living, and
Fanny Herself |
