| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: me, "nothing ever seems to go right!" And, looking from the poop
where we both stood (I had paid him a neighbourly call in dock), he
added: "She's one of them." He glanced up at my face, which
expressed a proper professional sympathy, and set me right in my
natural surmise: "Oh no; the old man's right enough. He never
interferes. Anything that's done in a seamanlike way is good
enough for him. And yet, somehow, nothing ever seems to go right
in this ship. I tell you what: she is naturally unhandy."
The "old man," of course, was his captain, who just then came on
deck in a silk hat and brown overcoat, and, with a civil nod to us,
went ashore. He was certainly not more than thirty, and the
The Mirror of the Sea |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Case of the Registered Letter by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: two great trees, looking down the street after the slight figure of
the detective. "Oh, it is all easier to hear, hard as it is, easier
now that this horrible suspicion has gone from my mind - why did I
not think of that before?"
Alone in the corner of the smoking compartment in the train to G-,
Muller arranged in his mind the facts he had already gathered. He
had questioned the servants of John Siders' former household, had
found that the dead man received very few letters, only an
occasional business communication from his bank. Of the few others,
the servants knew nothing except that he had always thrown the
envelopes carelessly in the waste paper basket and had never seemed
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey: A strange relief swiftly swayed over Duane. The end was near
now. He had no further choice. Let them come--a quick fierce
exchange of shots--and then this torture past! He waited for
the dog to give the alarm.
But the dog looked at him and trotted by into the thicket
without a yelp. Duane could not believe the evidence of his
senses. He thought he had suddenly gone deaf. He saw the dog
disappear, heard him running to and fro among the willows,
getting farther and farther away, till all sound from him
ceased.
"Thar's Rover," called a voice from the bluff-side. "He's been
The Lone Star Ranger |
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 Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs: and another plunged a keen hunting knife a dozen times into
the broad breast. Like lightning the blows fell, and only
ceased when Tarzan felt the limp form crumple beneath him.
As the body rolled to the ground Tarzan of the Apes
placed his foot upon the neck of his lifelong enemy and,
raising his eyes to the full moon, threw back his fierce young
head and voiced the wild and terrible cry of his people.
One by one the tribe swung down from their arboreal retreats
and formed a circle about Tarzan and his vanquished
foe. When they had all come Tarzan turned toward them.
"I am Tarzan," he cried. "I am a great killer. Let all
Tarzan of the Apes |
