| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Gentle Grafter by O. Henry: when it comes to cashing in the ticket to that 5 to 1 shot. Yes, I'd
really take it as a pastime and regalement if you boys would go along
too.'
"Murkison gives it out in Grassdale that he is going for a few days
with Mr. Peters and Mr. Tucker to look over some iron ore property in
West Virginia. He wires J. Smith that he will set foot in the spider
web on a given date; and the three of us lights out for Chicago.
"On the way Murkison amuses himself with premonitions and advance
pleasant recollections.
"'In a gray suit,' says he, 'on the southwest corner of Wabash avenue
and Lake street. He drops the paper, and I ask how the water is. Oh,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Poems by Oscar Wilde: Asking those idle questions which of old
Man sought of seer and oracle, and no reply was told.
For, sweet, to feel is better than to know,
And wisdom is a childless heritage,
One pulse of passion - youth's first fiery glow, -
Are worth the hoarded proverbs of the sage:
Vex not thy soul with dead philosophy,
Have we not lips to kiss with, hearts to love and eyes to see!
Dost thou not hear the murmuring nightingale,
Like water bubbling from a silver jar,
So soft she sings the envious moon is pale,
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Bureaucracy by Honore de Balzac: All government clerks in Paris who are not endowed, like Rabourdin,
with patriotic ambition or other marked capacity, usually add the
profits of some industry to the salary of their office, in order to
eke out a living. A number do as Monsieur Saillard did,--put their
money into a business carried on by others, and spend their evenings
in keeping the books of their associates. Many clerks are married to
milliners, licensed tobacco dealers, women who have charge of the
public lotteries or reading-rooms. Some, like the husband of Madame
Colleville, Celestine's rival, play in the orchestra of a theatre;
others like du Bruel, write vaudeville, comic operas, melodramas, or
act as prompters behind the scenes. We may mention among them Messrs.
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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 Caesar's Commentaries in Latin by Julius Caesar: barbaris inusitatior et motus ad usum expeditior, paulum removeri ab
onerariis navibus et remis incitari et ad latus apertum hostium constitui
atque inde fundis, sagittis, tormentis hostes propelli ac submoveri
iussit; quae res magno usui nostris fuit. Nam et navium figura et remorum
motu et inusitato genere tormentorum permoti barbari constiterunt ac
paulum modo pedem rettulerunt. Atque nostris militibus cunctantibus,
maxime propter altitudinem maris, qui X legionis aquilam gerebat,
obtestatus deos, ut ea res legioni feliciter eveniret, ' desilite',
inquit, ' milites, nisi vultis aquilam hostibus prodere; ego certe meum
rei publicae atque imperatori officium praestitero.' Hoc cum voce magna
dixisset, se ex navi proiecit atque in hostes aquilam ferre coepit. Tum
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