| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Aspern Papers by Henry James: had said as a confession; she only asked:
"Do you think it's right to rake up the past?"
"I don't know that I know what you mean by raking it up;
but how can we get at it unless we dig a little?
The present has such a rough way of treading it down."
"Oh, I like the past, but I don't like critics," the old woman declared
with her fine tranquility.
"Neither do I, but I like their discoveries."
"Aren't they mostly lies?"
"The lies are what they sometimes discover," I said, smiling at the quiet
impertinence of this. "They often lay bare the truth."
|
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 Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs: over furniture, and rolling upon the floor. Menelek was a
powerful man, and he was fighting for his life. Continually
he kept calling for the guard, until I succeeded in getting
a grip upon his throat; but it was too late. His cries had
been heard, and suddenly the door burst open, and a score of
armed guardsmen rushed into the apartment.
Victory seized the rifle from the floor and leaped between
me and them. I had the black emperor upon his back, and
both my hands were at his throat, choking the life from him.
The rest happened in the fraction of a second. There was a
rending crash above us, then a deafening explosion within
Lost Continent |
