| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from End of the Tether by Joseph Conrad: forefinger to tell him that there was something "in the
wind."
When the bell rang Captain Whalley's authoritative
voice boomed out through a closed door, "Sit down and
don't wait for me." And his impressed officers took their
places, exchanging looks and whispers across the table.
What! No breakfast? And after apparently knock-
ing about all night on deck, too! Clearly, there was
something in the wind. In the skylight above their
heads, bowed earnestly over the plates, three wire cages
rocked and rattled to the restless jumping of the hungry
End of the Tether |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from An Inland Voyage by Robert Louis Stevenson: The landlord applauded noisily. 'It was well done,' he said. 'He
did all that he could. He admitted he was wrong.' And then oath
upon oath. He was no marquis-lover either, but he had a sense of
justice in him, this proletarian host of ours.
From the matter of hunting, the talk veered into a general
comparison of Paris and the country. The proletarian beat the
table like a drum in praise of Paris. 'What is Paris? Paris is
the cream of France. There are no Parisians: it is you and I and
everybody who are Parisians. A man has eighty chances per cent. to
get on in the world in Paris.' And he drew a vivid sketch of the
workman in a den no bigger than a dog-hutch, making articles that
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Octopus by Frank Norris: in the wind of the train's passage. The mountains grew higher,
the land richer, and by the time the moon rose, the train was
well into the northernmost limits of the valley of the San
Joaquin.
Annixter had engaged an entire section, and after he and his wife
went to bed had the porter close the upper berth. Hilma sat up
in bed to say her prayers, both hands over her face, and then
kissing Annixter good-night, went to sleep with the directness of
a little child, holding his hand in both her own.
Annixter, who never could sleep on the train, dozed and tossed
and fretted for hours, consulting his watch and time-table
|
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 Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas: composition which stimulated his vanity, both as a
burgomaster and as President of the Horticultural Society.
"But my report!" he cried, -- "my report on the black
tulip!"
"Mynheer van Systens," Rosa continued, with the firmness of
innocence and truth, "your report on the black tulip will,
if you don't hear me, be based on crime or on falsehood. I
implore you, sir, let this Master Boxtel, whom I assert to
be Master Jacob, be brought here before you and me, and I
swear that I will leave him in undisturbed possession of the
tulip if I do not recognise the flower and its holder."
The Black Tulip |
