| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Island Nights' Entertainments by Robert Louis Stevenson: for the truth is, he still lives, and his name must be kept secret;
but the place of his birth was not far from Honaunau, where the
bones of Keawe the Great lie hidden in a cave. This man was poor,
brave, and active; he could read and write like a schoolmaster; he
was a first-rate mariner besides, sailed for some time in the
island steamers, and steered a whaleboat on the Hamakua coast. At
length it came in Keawe's mind to have a sight of the great world
and foreign cities, and he shipped on a vessel bound to San
Francisco.
This is a fine town, with a fine harbour, and rich people
uncountable; and, in particular, there is one hill which is covered
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe: been known to have been buried in one week since the preceding
visitation of 1656.
However, all this went off again, and the weather proving cold, and
the frost, which began in December, still continuing very severe even
till near the end of February, attended with sharp though moderate
winds, the bills decreased again, and the city grew healthy, and
everybody began to look upon the danger as good as over; only that
still the burials in St Giles's continued high. From the beginning of
April especially they stood at twenty-five each week, till the week
from the 18th to the 25th, when there was buried in St Giles's parish
thirty, whereof two of the plague and eight of the spotted-fever, which
A Journal of the Plague Year |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Edingburgh Picturesque Notes by Robert Louis Stevenson: as much as nine, the other was certainly not more than
seven. They were miserably clad; and the pavement was so
cold, you would have thought no one could lay a naked
foot on it unflinching. Yet they came along waltzing, if
you please, while the elder sang a tune to give them
music. The person who saw this, and whose heart was full
of bitterness at the moment, pocketed a reproof which has
been of use to him ever since, and which he now hands on,
with his good wishes, to the reader.
At length, Edinburgh, with her satellite hills and
all the sloping country, are sheeted up in white. If it
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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 Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie: into the dining-room, she called to her to bring some stamps into
the boudoir.
"Yes, m'm." The old servant hesitated, then added diffidently:
"Don't you think, m'm, you'd better get to bed? You're looking
very tired."
"Perhaps you're right, Dorcas--yes--no--not now. I've some
letters I must finish by post-time. Have you lighted the fire in
my room as I told you?"
"Yes, m'm."
"Then I'll go to bed directly after supper."
She went into the boudoir again, and Cynthia stared after her.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles |
