| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: the palace. Then the gates closed behind them, and before them was a
skinny little man who bowed low and said in a sad voice, "If you will
be so obliging as to dismount, it will give me pleasure to lead you
into the presence of the World's Most Mighty Ruler, Vig the Czarover."
"I don't believe it!" said Dorothy indignantly.
"What don't you believe?" asked the man.
"I don't believe your Czarover can hold a candle to our Ozma."
"He wouldn't hold a candle under any circumstances, or to any living
person," replied the man very seriously, "for he has slaves to do such
things and the Mighty Vig is too dignified to do anything that others
can do for him. He even obliges a slave to sneeze for him, if ever he
The Lost Princess of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: a swiftness and surety to which the craft of a Justinian or a Philip
II. were but clumsy and impotent.
All, all outward things, be sure of it, are good or evil, exactly as
far as they are in the hands of good men or of bad.
Moreover, paradoxical as it may seem, railroads and telegraphs,
instead of inaugurating an era of progress, may possibly only retard
it. "Rester sur un grand succes," which was Rossini's advice to a
young singer who had achieved a triumph, is a maxim which the world
often follows, not only from prudence, but from necessity. They
have done so much that it seems neither prudent nor possible to do
more. They will rest and be thankful.
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Simple Soul by Gustave Flaubert: Pont-l'Eveque.
In front of the inn, she met a woman wearing widow's weeds, and upon
questioning her, learned that she was looking for a cook. The girl did
not know very much, but appeared so willing and so modest in her
requirements, that Madame Aubain finally said:
"Very well, I will give you a trial."
And half an hour later Felicite was installed in her house.
At first she lived in a constant anxiety that was caused by "the style
of the household" and the memory of "Monsieur," that hovered over
everything. Paul and Virginia, the one aged seven, and the other
barely four, seemed made of some precious material; she carried them
A Simple Soul |
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 Underdogs by Mariano Azuela: a bottle from under his shirt and took a deep swig;
then he wiped the neck of the bottle with the back of his
hand and passed it around. It passed from mouth to
mouth; not a drop was left. The men passed their tongues
greedily over their lips to recapture the tang of the liq-
uor.
"Glory be to God and by His Will," said Demetrio,
"tonight or tomorrow at the latest we'll meet the Federals.
What do you say, boys, shall we let them find their way
about these trails?"
The ragged crew jumped to their feet, uttering shrill
The Underdogs |
