| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: piece of an old glove in his mouth, having eaten up the rest of it;
however, being young, and having more strength than his mother, the
mate got something down his throat, and he began sensibly to
revive; though by giving him, some time after, but two or three
spoonfuls extraordinary, he was very sick, and brought it up again.
But the next care was the poor maid: she lay all along upon the
deck, hard by her mistress, and just like one that had fallen down
in a fit of apoplexy, and struggled for life. Her limbs were
distorted; one of her hands was clasped round the frame of the
chair, and she gripped it so hard that we could not easily make her
let it go; her other arm lay over her head, and her feet lay both
Robinson Crusoe |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pathology of Lying, Etc. by William and Mary Healy: judicious stimulation he could be waked up to do comparatively
good work in several directions. On the Binet tests, 1911
series, he passed all but one of the 12 year set; in that he
followed the suggestion offered. On the 15 year old tests he did
three out of five. The failures were on the memory span of
figures and in the repetition of a sentence of 26 syllables.
By our other tests we also found him defective in verbal memory
processes, even when he read the passage to be remembered. In
working with our so-called construction tests, where his success
depended not only upon planning with concrete material, but even
more on the ability to profit by his failures, he did decidedly
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: the address in the paper. Somewhere in the Euston Road, isn't it?
But I was afraid of intruding upon a sorrow that I could
not lighten. Poor woman! What a state she must be in!
And her only child, too! What did she say about it
all?"
"My dear Basil, how do I know?" murmured Dorian Gray, sipping some
pale-yellow wine from a delicate, gold-beaded bubble of Venetian
glass and looking dreadfully bored. "I was at the opera.
You should have come on there. I met Lady Gwendolen, Harry's sister,
for the first time. We were in her box. She is perfectly charming;
and Patti sang divinely. Don't talk about horrid subjects.
The Picture of Dorian Gray |
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 Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: he who must have come to Tabor Island, who found there the wretch you knew,
and who made known to you that there was an unfortunate man there to be
saved. Therefore it is, thanks to him, that I have become a man again. No,
I will never forget him!"
"That is settled, then," said Cyrus Harding. "We will begin our
researches as soon as possible. We will not leave a corner of the island
unexplored. We will search into its most secret recesses, and will hope
that our unknown friend will pardon us in consideration of our intentions!"
For several days the colonists were actively employed in haymaking and
the harvest. Before putting their project of exploring the yet unknown
parts of the island into execution, they wished to get all possible work
The Mysterious Island |
