| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Bunner Sisters by Edith Wharton: that nursed him troo dat awful fever?"
"Yes, I SHOULD," said Evelina, with a spirited glance
at Ramy; but he was looking at the sausages that Linda had just put
on the table.
When dinner was over Mrs. Hochmuller invited her guests to
step out of the kitchen-door, and they found themselves in a green
enclosure, half garden, half orchard. Grey hens followed by golden
broods clucked under the twisted apple-boughs, a cat dozed on the
edge of an old well, and from tree to tree ran the network of
clothes-line that denoted Mrs. Hochmuller's calling. Beyond the
apple trees stood a yellow summer-house festooned with scarlet
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: extraordinary.
We will now turn to the terrestrial species (A. Demarlii),
with a round tail, and toes without webs. This lizard,
instead of being found like the other on all the islands, is
confined to the central part of the archipelago, namely to
Albemarle, James, Barrington, and Indefatigable islands. To
the southward, in Charles, Hood, and Chatham islands, and
to the northward, in Towers, Bindloes, and Abingdon, I
neither saw nor heard of any. It would appear as if it had
been created in the centre of the archipelago, and thence had
been dispersed only to a certain distance. Some of these
The Voyage of the Beagle |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar: lil' piece fo' lagniappe fo' madame's lil' bebe. Ah, c'est bon!
"Pralines, pralines, so fresh, so fine! M'sieu would lak' some
fo' he's lil' gal' at home? Mais non, what's dat you say? She's
daid! Ah, m'sieu, 'tis my lil' gal what died long year ago.
Misere, misere!
"Here come dat lazy Indien squaw. What she good fo', anyhow? She
jes' sit lak dat in de French Market an' sell her file, an'
sleep, sleep, sleep, lak' so in he's blanket. Hey, dere, you,
Tonita, how goes you' beezness?
"Pralines, pralines! Holy Father, you give me dat blessin' sho'?
Tak' one, I know you lak dat w'ite one. It tas' good, I know,
The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories |
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 On Revenues by Xenophon: to bring in the greatest revenue.[52]
[40] Or, "sinking fund."
[41] {athrooi}--"in a body." It is a military phrase, I think. In
close order, as it were, not in detachments.
[42] "According to our ability," a favourite Socratic phrase.
[43] {authis}. See for this corrupt passage Zurborg, "Comm." p. 31. He
would insert, "and a little delay will not be prejudicial to our
interests, but rather the contrary," or to that effect, thus: {kai
authis an [anutoimen ou gar toiaute te anabole blaben genesthai
an] emin oiometha} "vel simile aliquid."
[44] Or, "it is we who must bear the whole burthen of the outlay."
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