| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad: tidings. News travels fast along the coast. But they may be
untrue; there are more lies in men's mouths in these days than
when I was young, but I am not easier to deceive now."
"All my words are true," said Dain, carelessly. "If you want to
know what befell my brig, then learn that it is in the hands of
the Dutch. Believe me, Rajah," he went on, with sudden energy,
"the Orang Blanda have good friends in Sambir, or else how did
they know I was coming thence?"
Lakamba gave Dain a short and hostile glance. Babalatchi rose
quietly, and, going to the arm-rack, struck the gong violently.
Outside the door there was a shuffle of bare feet; inside, the
Almayer's Folly |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tanach: 1_Kings 6: 13 in that I will dwell therein among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.'
1_Kings 6: 14 So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
1_Kings 6: 15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar; from the floor of the house unto the joists of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress.
1_Kings 6: 16 And he built twenty cubits on the hinder part of the house with boards of cedar from the floor unto the joists; he even built them for himself within, for a Sanctuary, even for the most holy place.
1_Kings 6: 17 And the house, that is, the temple before the Sanctuary, was forty cubits long.
1_Kings 6: 18 And the cedar on the house within was carved with knops and open flowers; all was cedar; there was no stone seen.
1_Kings 6: 19 And he prepared the Sanctuary in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
1_Kings 6: 20 And before the Sanctuary which was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof, overlaid with pure gold, he set an altar, which he covered with cedar.
The Tanach |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Phoenix and the Turtle by William Shakespeare: Be the death-defying swan,
Lest the requiem lack his right.
And thou, treble-dated crow,
That thy sable gender mak'st
With the breath thou giv'st and tak'st,
'Mongst our mourners shalt thou go.
Here the anthem doth commence:
Love and constancy is dead;
Phoenix and the turtle fled
In a mutual flame from hence.
So they lov'd, as love in twain
|
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 Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey: to the stranger, and now both respect and friendliness tempered
his asperity.
"Wal, fer want of a better handle I'll call you Dodge," he
said.
"Dodge's as good as any.... Gents, line up again--an' if you
can't be friendly, be careful!"
Such was Buck Duane's debut in the little outlaw hamlet of Ord.
Duane had been three months out of the Nueces country. At El
Paso he bought the finest horse he could find, and, armed and
otherwise outfitted to suit him, he had taken to unknown
trails. Leisurely he rode from town to town, village to
The Lone Star Ranger |
