| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Fantastic Fables by Ambrose Bierce: an honest man approaching, he dropped his axe and fled. The next
day when he cautiously returned to get his axe, he found the
following lines pencilled on the stump:
"What nature reared by centuries of toil,
A scalawag in half a day can spoil;
An equal fate for him may Heaven provide -
Damned in the moment of his tallest pride."
At Large - One Temper
A TURBULENT Person was brought before a Judge to be tried for an
assault with intent to commit murder, and it was proved that he had
been variously obstreperous without apparent provocation, had
Fantastic Fables |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Paz by Honore de Balzac: can be no ill-will between us."
Paz left the room, fearing he might commit some great folly, and
feeling that wild ideas were getting the better of him. He went to
walk in the open air, lightly dressed in spite of the cold, but
without being able to cool the fire in his cheeks or on his brow.
"I thought you had a noble soul,"--the words still rang in his ears.
"A year ago," he said to himself, "she thought me a hero who could
fight the Russians single-handed!"
He thought of leaving the hotel Laginski, and taking service with the
spahis and getting killed in Africa, but the same great fear checked
him. "Without me," he thought, "what would become of them? they would
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Moon-Face and Other Stories by Jack London: time, he realized his danger, and started to run. As foreseen and planned by
me, she made the bank and took out after him. Oh, I tell you, it was great! As
I have said, the pool lay in a sort of amphitheatre. Above and below, the
stream could be crossed on stepping-stones. And around and around, up and down
and across the stones, raced Claverhouse and Bellona. I could never have
believed that such an ungainly man could run so fast. But run he did, Bellona
hot-footed after him, and gaining. And then, just as she caught up, he in full
stride, and she leaping with nose at his knee, there was a sudden flash, a
burst of smoke, a terrific detonation, and where man and dog had been the
instant before there was naught to be seen but a big hole in the ground.
"Death from accident while engaged in illegal fishing." That was the verdict
|
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 Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton: prosperity for themselves.
"My dear, it's too wonderful! He's told me to take as many
concert and opera tickets as I like; he lets me take all the
children with me. The big concerts don't begin till later; but
of course the Opera is always going. And there are little
things--there's music in Paris at all seasons. And later it's
just possible we may get to Munich for a week--oh, Susy!" Her
hands clasped, her eyes brimming, she drank the new wine of life
almost sacramentally.
"Do you remember, Susy, when you and Nick came to stay at the
bungalow? Nat said you'd be horrified by our primitiveness-but
|
