| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: and arrival, which was impossible, was absolutely necessary to his success.
He might, perhaps, reckon on the arrival of trains at the designated hours,
in Europe, where the distances were relatively moderate; but when
he calculated upon crossing India in three days, and the United States
in seven, could he rely beyond misgiving upon accomplishing his task?
There were accidents to machinery, the liability of trains to run off the line,
collisions, bad weather, the blocking up by snow--were not all these against
Phileas Fogg? Would he not find himself, when travelling by steamer in winter,
at the mercy of the winds and fogs? Is it uncommon for the best ocean steamers
to be two or three days behind time? But a single delay would suffice to
fatally break the chain of communication; should Phileas Fogg once miss,
Around the World in 80 Days |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Adventure by Jack London: camp.
"I tell 'm plenty fella white marster look sharp eye belong him.
And plenty fella white marster make 'm big laugh along me, say Binu
Charley allee same pickaninny--my word, they speak along me allee
same pickaninny."
Came the morning when Binu Charley noticed that the women and
children had disappeared. Tudor, at the time, was lying in a
stupor with fever in a late camp five miles away, the main camp
having moved on those five miles in order to prospect an outcrop of
likely quartz. Binu Charley was midway between the two camps when
the absence of the women and children struck him as suspicious.
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from My Antonia by Willa Cather: Their last names were unpronounceable, so they were called
Pavel and Peter. They went about making signs to people,
and until the Shimerdas came they had no friends.
Krajiek could understand them a little, but he had cheated
them in a trade, so they avoided him. Pavel, the tall one,
was said to be an anarchist; since he had no means of imparting
his opinions, probably his wild gesticulations and his generally
excited and rebellious manner gave rise to this supposition.
He must once have been a very strong man, but now his
great frame, with big, knotty joints, had a wasted look,
and the skin was drawn tight over his high cheekbones.
My Antonia |
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 Persuasion by Jane Austen: Sir Walter, indeed, though he had no affection for Anne,
and no vanity flattered, to make him really happy on the occasion,
was very far from thinking it a bad match for her. On the contrary,
when he saw more of Captain Wentworth, saw him repeatedly by daylight,
and eyed him well, he was very much struck by his personal claims,
and felt that his superiority of appearance might be not unfairly balanced
against her superiority of rank; and all this, assisted by
his well-sounding name, enabled Sir Walter at last to prepare his pen,
with a very good grace, for the insertion of the marriage
in the volume of honour.
The only one among them, whose opposition of feeling could excite
Persuasion |
