| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard: forward, and we felt air blowing upon us. Then our senses left
us. As I clasped Tommy to my side, whimpering and licking my
face, my last thought was that all was over, and that presently I
should learn everything or nothing.
I woke up feeling very bruised and sore and perceived that
light was flowing into the saloon. The door was still shut, but
it had been wrenched off its hinges, and that was where the light
came in; also some of the teak planks of the decking, jagged and
splintered, were sticking up through the carpet. The table had
broken from its fastenings and lay upon its side. Everything else
was one confusion. I looked at Bickley. Apparently he had not
When the World Shook |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: We do not live a great way from him in the country, you know.
Not above ten miles, I dare say."
"Much nearer thirty," said her husband.
"Ah, well! there is not much difference.
I never was at his house; but they say it is a sweet
pretty place."
"As vile a spot as I ever saw in my life,"
said Mr. Palmer.
Marianne remained perfectly silent, though her
countenance betrayed her interest in what was said.
"Is it very ugly?" continued Mrs. Palmer--"then it
Sense and Sensibility |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: swiftly, her feet stirring up small puffs of dust at every step.
She fastened something to the gate-post, - I could see the nervous
haste with which she worked. When she joined me again it was
without explanation. But the clenched fingers were free now, and
while she looked tired and worn, the strain had visibly relaxed.
We walked along slowly in the general direction of the suburban
trolley line. Once a man with an empty wagon offered us a lift,
but after a glance at the springless vehicle I declined.
"The ends of the bone think they are castanets as it is," I
explained. "But the lady - "
The young lady, however, declined and we went on together. Once,
The Man in Lower Ten |
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 Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: For six hours they rode rapidly across the burning desert,
avoiding the oases near which their way led. About noon
they came to a DOUAR of about twenty tents. Here they
halted, and as one of the Arabs was releasing the alfa-grass
ropes which bound him to his mount they were surrounded
by a mob of men, women, and children. Many of the tribe,
and more especially the women, appeared to take delight in
heaping insults upon the prisoner, and some had even gone
so far as to throw stones at him and strike him with
sticks, when an old sheik appeared and drove them away.
"Ali-ben-Ahmed tells me," he said, "that this man sat alone
The Return of Tarzan |
