| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from An Inland Voyage by Robert Louis Stevenson: never knew a man so altered. 'We have been taken for pedlars
again,' said he. 'Good God, what it must be to be a pedlar in
reality!' He particularised a complaint for every joint in the
landlady's body. Timon was a philanthropist alongside of him. And
then, when he was at the top of his maledictory bent, he would
suddenly break away and begin whimperingly to commiserate the poor.
'I hope to God,' he said, - and I trust the prayer was answered, -
'that I shall never be uncivil to a pedlar.' Was this the
imperturbable CIGARETTE? This, this was he. O change beyond
report, thought, or belief!
Meantime the heaven wept upon our heads; and the windows grew
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Adam Bede by George Eliot: defective, the outlines will sometimes be disturbed, the
reflection faint or confused; but I feel as much bound to tell you
as precisely as I can what that reflection is, as if I were in the
witness-box, narrating my experience on oath.
Sixty years ago--it is a long time, so no wonder things have
changed--all clergymen were not zealous; indeed, there is reason
to believe that the number of zealous clergymen was small, and it
is probable that if one among the small minority had owned the
livings of Broxton and Hayslope in the year 1799, you would have
liked him no better than you like Mr. Irwine. Ten to one, you
would have thought him a tasteless, indiscreet, methodistical man.
Adam Bede |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Virginian by Owen Wister: "Seconds! To think of its having come to seconds!"
"I am thinkin' about it. I'm choppin' sixty of 'em off every
minute."
With such chopping time wears away. More miles of the road lay
behind them, and in the virgin wilderness the scars of
new-scraped water ditches began to appear, and the first wire
fences. Next, they were passing cabins and occasional fields, the
outposts of habitation. The free road became wholly imprisoned,
running between unbroken stretches of barbed wire. Far off to the
eastward a flowing column of dust marked the approaching stage,
bringing the bishop, probably, for whose visit here they had
The Virginian |
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 An Historical Mystery by Honore de Balzac: wife, the abbe and his sister, sitting round the fire, to all
appearance tranquil.
"If they had caught Michu," Laurence told herself, "they would have
brought him with them. I have the mortification of knowing that I was
not the mistress of myself, and that I threw some light upon the
matter for those wretches; but the harm can be undone--How long are we
to be your prisoners?" she asked sarcastically, with an easy manner.
"How can she know anything about Michu? No one from the outside has
got near the chateau; she is laughing at us," said the two agents to
each other by a look.
"We shall not inconvenience you long," replied Corentin. "In three
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