| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: little spear, and then it was too late. As he looked up
into the face of Bukawai, the old witch-doctor seized him,
muffling his screams with a palm across his mouth.
Tibo struggled futilely.
A moment later he was being hustled away through the dark
and terrible jungle, the frightful old man still muffling
his screams, and the two hideous hyenas pacing now on
either side, now before, now behind, always prowling,
always growling, snapping, snarling, or, worst of all,
laughing hideously.
To little Tibo, who within his brief existence had passed
The Jungle Tales of Tarzan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: completed the seven cycles" (approximately seven hundred years),
"with the result that their offspring might be cos-ata-lo,
or born as are all the children of your race, my Tom, as you
tell me is the fact. I was therefore apart from my fellows in
that my children would probably be as I, of a higher state of
evolution, and so I was sought by the men of my people; but
none of them appealed to me. I cared for none. The most
persistent was Du-seen, a huge warrior of whom my father stood
in considerable fear, since it was quite possible that Du-seen
could wrest from him his chieftainship of the Galus. He has a
large following of the newer Galus, those most recently come up
The People That Time Forgot |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Lock and Key Library by Julian Hawthorne, Ed.: so in proud, reserved natures, which are chilled by any contact
with temperature not higher than their own.
"On her return, however, from that absence I have mentioned, I was
not a little fluttered by an obvious change in her manner; an
impression which subsequent meetings only served to confirm.
Although still very quiet, her manner had become more tender, and
it had that delicious shyness which is the most exquisite of
flatteries, as it is one of the most enchanting of graces. I saw
her tremble slightly beneath my voice, and blush beneath my gaze.
"There was no mistaking these signs. It was clear that she loved
me; and it was no less clear that I, taking fire at this discovery,
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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 The Pool of Blood in the Pastor's Study by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: boy did not dare to ask any questions, for he knew that the shepherd
was not likely to answer. There was a silent understanding among
the villagers that no one should annoy Janci in any way, for they
stood in a strange awe of him, although he was the most
good-natured mortal under the sun.
While the shepherd and the boy walked toward the inn, the old
doctor and Liska had hurried onward to the rectory. They were met
at the door by the aged housekeeper, who staggered down the path
wringing her hands, unable to give voice to anything but
inarticulate expressions of grief and terror. The rest of the
household and the farm hands were gathered in a frightened group
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