| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories by Mark Twain: where everything he sees is a comfort to his eye and his spirit;
and I became conscious, in one of those unaccountable ways,
you know, that there was something there somewhere that the man
wanted me to discover for myself. I knew it perfectly, and I knew
he was trying to help me by furtive indications with his eye, so I
tried hard to get on the right track, being eager to gratify him.
I failed several times, as I could see out of the corner of my eye
without being told; but at last I knew I must be looking straight
at the thing--knew it from the pleasure issuing in invisible waves
from him. He broke into a happy laugh, and rubbed his hands together,
and cried out:
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Village Rector by Honore de Balzac: so well, he always escaped. The /chauffeurs/ he consorted with kept
themselves mostly in the neighborhood of Brives and Tulle; sometimes
they came down this way, because Farrabesche knew such good hiding-
places about here. In 1814 the conscription took no further notice of
him, because it was abolished; but for all that, he was obliged to
live in the woods in 1815; because, don't you see? as he hadn't enough
to live on, he helped to stop a mail-coach over there, down that
gorge; and then it was they condemned him. But, as I told you just
now, the rector persuaded him to give himself up. It wasn't easy to
convict him, for nobody dared testify against him; and his lawyer and
Monsieur Bonnet worked so hard they got him sentenced for ten years
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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 Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Royal Ozma, and you, Queen of Ev, I welcome you and your people back
to the land of the living. Billina has saved you from your troubles,
and now we will leave this drea'ful place, and return to Ev as soon
as poss'ble."
While the child spoke they could all see that she wore the magic belt,
and a great cheer went up from all her friends, which was led by the
voices of the Scarecrow and the private. But the Nome King did not
join them. He crept back onto his throne like a whipped dog, and lay
there bitterly bemoaning his defeat.
"But we have not yet found my faithful follower, the Tin Woodman,"
said Ozma to Dorothy, "and without him I do not wish to go away."
Ozma of Oz |
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 Street of Seven Stars by Mary Roberts Rinehart: demur from Harmony, who feared her part was too small, and who
irritated Anna almost to a frenzy by cleaning the apartment from
end to end to make certain of her usefulness.
A curious little household surely, one that made the wife of the
Portier shake her head, and speak much beneath her breath with
the wife of the brushmaker about the Americans having queer ways
and not as the Austrians.
The short month had seen a change in all of them. Peter showed it
least of all, perhaps. Men feel physical discomfort less keenly
than women, and Peter had been only subconsciously wretched. He
had gained a pound or two in flesh, perhaps, and he was
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