| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Vision Splendid by William MacLeod Raine: Why, it had been only a month or two ago that her gaze had been
warm for him, that her playful irony had mocked sweetly his
ambition for service to the community. Their spirits had touched
in comradeship. Almost he had caught in her eyes the look they
would hold for only one man on earth. The best in him had
responded to the call. But now he did not often meet her at The
Brakes. When he did a cool little nod and an indifferent word
sufficed for him. How much this hurt only James himself knew.
One of the visible signs of his increasing prosperity was a motor
car, in which he might frequently be seen driving with the
daughter of Joe Powers, to the gratification of its owner and the
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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 Village Rector by Honore de Balzac: What do you really think, you magistrates?" she added, plunging a
fixed look into the eyes of the /procureur-general/.
"We think that the woman belongs to the bourgeois or the commercial
class."
"I don't agree with you," said Madame Graslin. "A woman of that class
does not have elevated sentiments."
This reply drew all eyes on Veronique, and the whole company waited
for an explanation of so paradoxical a speech.
"During the hours I lie awake at night I have not been able to keep my
mind from dwelling on this mysterious affair," she said slowly, "and I
think I have fathomed Tascheron's motive. I believe the person he
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass: that there was any danger of Mr. Covey's killing
me, and said that he knew Mr. Covey; that he was
a good man, and that he could not think of taking
me from him; that, should he do so, he would lose
the whole year's wages; that I belonged to Mr. Covey
for one year, and that I must go back to him, come
what might; and that I must not trouble him with
any more stories, or that he would himself GET HOLD
OF ME. After threatening me thus, he gave me a very
large dose of salts, telling me that I might remain
in St. Michael's that night, (it being quite late,)
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave |
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 Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: hour, the Grasshopper, coarse ruminant that he is, resists for a
whole day. Put aside these differences, caused by unequal degrees
of organic sensitiveness, and we sum up as follows: when bitten by
the Tarantula in the neck, an insect, chosen from among the
largest, dies on the spot; when bitten elsewhere, it perishes also,
but after a lapse of time which varies considerably in the
different entomological orders.
This explains the long hesitation of the Tarantula, so wearisome to
the experimenter when he presents to her, at the entrance to the
burrow, a rich, but dangerous prey. The majority refuse to fling
themselves upon the Carpenter-bee. The fact is that a quarry of
The Life of the Spider |
