| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne: the most fruitful and busy period of my life; for as I had made no
convention with my man with the gun, as to time--by stopping and talking to
every soul I met, who was not in a full trot--joining all parties before
me--waiting for every soul behind--hailing all those who were coming
through cross-roads--arresting all kinds of beggars, pilgrims, fiddlers,
friars--not passing by a woman in a mulberry-tree without commending her
legs, and tempting her into conversation with a pinch of snuff--In short,
by seizing every handle, of what size or shape soever, which chance held
out to me in this journey--I turned my plain into a city--I was always in
company, and with great variety too; and as my mule loved society as much
as myself, and had some proposals always on his part to offer to every
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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 Cruise of the Jasper B. by Don Marquis: "How did you know that?"
The other laughed. "We know a great many things--it is our
business to know things," he said. Then he dropped his voice to a
whisper, and said rapidly, "Mr. Cleggett, do you know who I am?"
Before Cleggett could reply he continued, "Brace yourself--do not
make an outcry when I tell you who I am. I am Wilton
Barnstable."
"I knew you," said Cleggett. The other appeared disappointed for
a moment. And then he inquired anxiously, "How did you know me?"
"Why, from your pictures in the magazines," said Cleggett.
The detective brightened perceptibly. "Ah, yes--the magazines!
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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 Before Adam by Jack London: my life. For that matter I had never seen a
domesticated pig. The nearest approach to one that I
had seen was breakfast bacon sizzling in its fat. And
yet here, real as life, wild boars dashed through my
dreams, and I, with fantastic parents, swung through
the lofty tree-spaces.
Do you wonder that I was frightened and oppressed by my
nightmare-ridden nights? I was accursed. And, worst
of all, I was afraid to tell. I do not know why,
except that I had a feeling of guilt, though I knew no
better of what I was guilty. So it was, through long
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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 Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad: distinctly, his face turned towards the settlement: "There's a
body of a man in the river! Come and see! A dead--stranger!"
The women of the nearest house were already outside kindling the
fires and husking the morning rice. They took up the cry
shrilly, and it travelled so from house to house, dying away in
the distance. The men rushed out excited but silent, and ran
towards the muddy point where the unconscious logs tossed and
ground and bumped and rolled over the dead stranger with the
stupid persistency of inanimate things. The women followed,
neglecting their domestic duties and disregarding the
possibilities of domestic discontent, while groups of children
Almayer's Folly |
