| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Case of the Golden Bullet by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: peddler when they were alone again.
Nanette looked at him in surprise but was still too frightened to
offer any remarks. She opened several boxes and packages and laid
a number of pairs of gloves on the table. The old man looked
through them, turning them over carefully. Then he shook his head:
"There must be some more somewhere," he said. Nanette was no longer
astonished at anything he might say or do, so she obediently went
through the basket again and found a little box in which were
several pair of grey suede gloves, fastened by bluish mother-of-pearl
buttons. One of the pairs had been worn, and a button was missing.
"These are the ones I was looking for," said the peddler, putting
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: "That little bird, which met me at the edge of the cliff,"
exclaimed Ulysses; "was he a human being once?"
"Yes," answered Quicksilver. "He was once a king, named Picus,
and a pretty good sort of a king, too, only rather too proud of
his purple robe, and his crown, and the golden chain about his
neck; so he was forced to take the shape of a gaudy-feathered
bird. The lions, and wolves, and tigers, who will come running
to meet you, in front of the palace, were formerly fierce and
cruel men, resembling in their disposition the wild beasts
whose forms they now rightfully wear."
"And my poor companions," said Ulysses. "Have they undergone a
Tanglewood Tales |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories by Mark Twain: then persecution. Then derision, which is the beginning of the end.
And last of all came pity, which is the funeral of fame. Oh,
the bitterness and misery of renown! target for mud in its prime,
for contempt and compassion in its decay."
Chapter IV
"Chose yet again." It was the fairy's voice.
"Two gifts remain. And do not despair. In the beginning there
was but one that was precious, and it is still here."
"Wealth--which is power! How blind I was!" said the man.
"Now, at last, life will be worth the living. I will spend,
squander, dazzle. These mockers and despisers will crawl in the
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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 Democracy In America, Volume 1 by Alexis de Toqueville: The institution of the jury, if confined to criminal causes,
is always in danger, but when once it is introduced into civil
proceedings it defies the aggressions of time and of man. If it
had been as easy to remove the jury from the manners as from the
laws of England, it would have perished under Henry VIII, and
Elizabeth, and the civil jury did in reality, at that period,
save the liberties of the country. In whatever manner the jury
be applied, it cannot fail to exercise a powerful influence upon
the national character; but this influence is prodigiously
increased when it is introduced into civil causes. The jury, and
more especially the jury in civil cases, serves to communicate
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