| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dreams by Olive Schreiner: She said, "I see nothing, but sometimes, when I shade my eyes with my hand,
I think I see on the further bank trees and hills, and the sun shining on
them!"
He said, "That is the Land of Freedom."
She said, "How am I to get there?"
He said, "There is one way, and one only. Down the banks of Labour,
through the water of Suffering. There is no other."
She said, "Is there no bridge?"
He answered. "None."
She said, "Is the water deep?"
He said, "Deep."
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Confidence by Henry James: "I think she would marry you--but I don't think she cares for you."
Gordon turned a little pale, but he clapped his hands together.
"Very good," he exclaimed. "That 's exactly how I want you to speak."
"Her mother has taken a great fancy to your fortune and it
has rubbed off on the girl, who has made up her mind that it
would be a pleasant thing to have thirty thousand a year,
and that her not caring for you is an unimportant detail."
"I see--I see," said Gordon, looking at his friend with an air of admiration
for his frank and lucid way of putting things.
Now that he had begun to be frank and lucid, Bernard found a charm in it,
and the impulse under which he had spoken urged him almost violently forward.
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: throat well wrapped up.' 'Certainly, Mrs. Beard,' I
said. 'You are a good young man; I noticed how at-
tentive you are to John--to Captain--' The train
pulled out suddenly; I took my cap off to the old
woman: I never saw her again. . . . Pass the bottle.
"We went to sea next day. When we made that start
for Bankok we had been already three months out of
London. We had expected to be a fortnight or so--at
the outside.
"It was January, and the weather was beautiful--the
beautiful sunny winter weather that has more charm
Youth |
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 Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini: "In Heaven's name..." he began, when Mr. Wilding, ever calm and smiling,
though now a trifle sinister, waved him gently into silence. But that
persisting calm of Mr. Wilding's was too much for old Nick Trenchard.
He rose abruptly, drawing all eyes upon himself. It was time, he
thought, he took a hand in this.
In addition to his affection for Wilding and his contempt for Westmacott,
he was filled with a fear that the latter might become dangerous if not
crushed at once. Gifted with a shrewd knowledge of men, acquired during
a chequered life of much sour experience, old Nick instinctively
mistrusted Richard. He had known him for a fool, a weakling, a babbler,
and a bibber of wine. Out of such elements a villain is soon compounded,
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