| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: Sawhorse snorted rather contemptuously, but the Lion whispered to the
wooden steed, "Bear with this strange creature, my friend, and
remember he is no more extraordinary than you are.
Indeed, it is more natural for a frog to be big than for a Sawhorse to be alive."
On being questioned, the Frogman told them the whole story of the loss
of Cayke's highly prized dishpan and their adventures in search of it.
When he came to tell of the Lavender Bear King and of the Little Pink
Bear who could tell anything you wanted to know, his hearers became
eager to see such interesting animals. "It will be best," said the
Wizard, "to unite our two parties and share our fortunes together, for
we are all bound on the same errand, and as one band we may more
The Lost Princess of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from One Basket by Edna Ferber: Overton boy interested in Ethel."
"If he's interested in her," Ben blundered, "I guess the fact
that Ethel's uncle went to the theater with someone who isn't
Ethel's aunt won't cause a shudder to run up and down his frail
young frame, will it?"
"All right," Eva had retorted. "If you're not man enough to
stop it, I'll have to, that's all. I'm going up there with Stell
this week."
They did not notify Jo of their coming. Eva telephoned his
apartment when she knew he would be out, and asked his man if he
expected his master home to dinner that evening. The man had
One Basket |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Treatise on Parents and Children by George Bernard Shaw: association cultivates them; but the addition of a dictated compulsory
affection as an attribute of near kinship is not only unnecessary, but
positively detrimental; and the alleged tendency of modern social
development to break up the family need alarm nobody. We cannot break
up the facts of kinship nor eradicate its natural emotional
consequences. What we can do and ought to do is to set people free to
behave naturally and to change their behavior as circumstances change.
To impose on a citizen of London the family duties of a Highland
cateran in the eighteenth century is as absurd as to compel him to
carry a claymore and target instead of an umbrella. The civilized man
has no special use for cousins; and he may presently find that he has
|
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 Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: ground they fell upon the form of a creature close beside the
thick jungle where it terminated abruptly at the plain's edge.
He reined his mount in the direction of his discovery. It was
yet too far away for his untrained eyes to recognize it; but as
he came closer he saw that it was a horse, and was about to resume
the original direction of his way when he thought that he discerned
a saddle upon the beast's back. He rode a little closer. Yes, the
animal was saddled. The Hon. Morison approached yet nearer, and as
he did so his eyes expressed a pleasurable emotion of anticipation,
for they had now recognized the pony as the special favorite of Meriem.
He galloped to the animal's side. Meriem must be within the wood.
The Son of Tarzan |
