| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling: to him he was shouting at the top of his voice, "And so I shall
have a tribe of my own, and lead them through the branches all day
long."
"What is this new folly, little dreamer of dreams?" said
Bagheera.
"Yes, and throw branches and dirt at old Baloo," Mowgli went
on. "They have promised me this. Ah!"
"Whoof!" Baloo's big paw scooped Mowgli off Bagheera's back,
and as the boy lay between the big fore-paws he could see the Bear
was angry.
"Mowgli," said Baloo, "thou hast been talking with the
The Jungle Book |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: by my side.
There was a little gray in the sky now; so I stepped
into the woods, and laid down for a nap before break-
fast.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE sun was up so high when I waked that I judged
it was after eight o'clock. I laid there in the
grass and the cool shade thinking about things, and
feeling rested and ruther comfortable and satisfied. I
could see the sun out at one or two holes, but mostly
it was big trees all about, and gloomy in there amongst
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle: merry bout, and never did I think to see thee yield thyself so,
hand and foot, to any man in all merry England. I was seeking thee,
to chide thee for leaving my bidding undone; but thou hast been
paid all I owed thee, full measure, pressed down and overflowing,
by this good fellow. Marry, 'a did reach out his arm full
length while thou stood gaping at him, and, with a pretty rap,
tumbled thee over as never have I seen one tumbled before."
So spoke bold Robin, and all the time Little John sat upon
the ground, looking as though he had sour curds in his mouth.
"What may be thy name, good fellow?" said Robin, next, turning
to the Tanner.
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood |
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 Massimilla Doni by Honore de Balzac: Italian woman in love. "I will out-do la Tinti, if need be, to save my
friend's life."
"And you will thus fuse into one two kinds of love, which he sees as
distinct--divided by a mountain of poetic fancy, that will melt away
like the snow on a glacier under the beams of the midsummer sun."
"I shall be eternally your debtor," said the Duchess, gravely.
When the French doctor returned to the gallery, where the orgy had by
this time assumed the stamp of Venetian frenzy, he had a look of
satisfaction which the Prince, absorbed by la Tinti, failed to
observe; he was promising himself a repetition of the intoxicating
delights he had known. La Tinti, a true Sicilian, was floating on the
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