| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lock and Key Library by Julian Hawthorne, Ed.: attitude of resolution which I confess surprised even myself.
"Wery veil," he shrieked, with many oaths, "then you shall have
noting--ha, ha, ha!--noting but a policeman! Mr. Abednego, call a
policeman! Take that, you humbug and impostor!" and here with an
abundance of frightful language which I dare not repeat, the
wealthy banker abused and defied me.
Au bout du compte, what was I to do, if a banker did not choose to
honor a check drawn by his dead grandmother? I began to wish I had
my snuff-box back. I began to think I was a fool for changing that
little old-fashioned gold for
this slip of strange paper.
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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 Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: afternoon was hot, the train rolled slowly along, stopping to pant
at sweltering stations, from whose roofs the heat rose in waves.
But I noticed these things objectively, not subjectively, for at the
end of the journey was a girl with blue eyes and dark brown hair,
hair that could - had I not seen it? - hang loose in bewitching
tangles or be twisted into little coils of delight.
CHAPTER XXVII
THE SEA, THE SAND, THE STARS
I telephoned as soon as I reached my hotel, and I had not known how
much I had hoped from seeing her until I learned that she was out
of town. I hung up the receiver, almost dizzy with disappointment,
The Man in Lower Ten |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Yates Pride by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: walked in and out of her house, carrying the things she valued
most, and she looked like a picture--somehow she had got all
dressed fit to make calls--and there wasn't a muscle of her face
that seemed to move. Eudora Yates is to my mind the most
beautiful woman in this town, old or young, I don't care who she
is."
"I suppose," said Julia Esterbrook, "that she has a lot of
money."
"I wonder if she has," said Mrs. John Bates.
The others stared at her. "What makes you think she hasn't?"
Mrs. Glynn inquired, sharply.
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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 Critias by Plato: surrounded by mountains which descended towards the sea; it was smooth and
even, and of an oblong shape, extending in one direction three thousand
stadia, but across the centre inland it was two thousand stadia. This part
of the island looked towards the south, and was sheltered from the north.
The surrounding mountains were celebrated for their number and size and
beauty, far beyond any which still exist, having in them also many wealthy
villages of country folk, and rivers, and lakes, and meadows supplying food
enough for every animal, wild or tame, and much wood of various sorts,
abundant for each and every kind of work.
I will now describe the plain, as it was fashioned by nature and by the
labours of many generations of kings through long ages. It was for the
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