| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Oakdale Affair by Edgar Rice Burroughs: They'll tell you, at least that she is not a man."
Some voices were raised in protest, saying that it
was a ruse to escape, while others urged that the women
take the youth. Jeb Case stepped toward the subject
of dispute. "I'll settle it durned quick," he announced
and reached forth to seize the slim figure. With a sud-
den wrench Bridge tore himself loose from his captors
and leaped toward the farmer, his right flew straight
out from the shoulder and Jeb Case went down with a
broken jaw. Almost simultaneously a car sped around a
curve from the north and stopped suddenly in rear of
The Oakdale Affair |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum: water off the Patchwork Girl's patches as well as
he was able to. The sun soon dried her and the
colors of her patches proved good, for they did
not run together nor did they fade.
After passing the wall of water the current did
not change or flow backward any more but continued
to sweep them steadily forward. The banks of the
river grew lower, too, permitting them to see more
of the country, and presently they discovered
yellow buttercups and dandelions growing amongst
the grass, from which evidence they knew they had
The Patchwork Girl of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: obstruction occurs, and brings these two figures directly in
contact. Their hands touch; the pressure of the crowd forces her
bosom against his shoulder; they stand, face to face, staring
into each other's eyes. After a ten years' separation, thus
Wakefield meets his wife!
The throng eddies away, and carries them asunder. The sober
widow, resuming her former pace, proceeds to church, but pauses
in the portal, and throws a perplexed glance along the street.
She passes in, however, opening her prayer-book as she goes. And
the man! with so wild a face that busy and selfish London stands
to gaze after him, he hurries to his lodgings, bolts the door,
Twice Told Tales |
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 Philebus by Plato: capable of inspiring men like a passion, and is the symbol of a cause for
which they are ready to contend to their life's end.
And if we test this principle by the lives of its professors, it would
certainly appear inferior to none as a rule of action. From the days of
Eudoxus (Arist. Ethics) and Epicurus to our own, the votaries of pleasure
have gained belief for their principles by their practice. Two of the
noblest and most disinterested men who have lived in this century, Bentham
and J. S. Mill, whose lives were a long devotion to the service of their
fellows, have been among the most enthusiastic supporters of utility; while
among their contemporaries, some who were of a more mystical turn of mind,
have ended rather in aspiration than in action, and have been found unequal
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