| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: "Not a soul--on honour, not a soul!"
"If it isn't too late to--"
The men were starting up-stairs; at this moment they were overtaken
by a boy, and Cox asked,
"Is that you, Johnny?"
"Yes, sir."
"You needn't ship the early mail--nor ANY mail; wait till I tell
you."
"It's already gone, sir."
"GONE?" It had the sound of an unspeakable disappointment in it.
"Yes, sir. Time-table for Brixton and all the towns beyond changed
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: game.
U-Dor's next move placed Lan-O's Odwar upon Tara's Odwar's
fourth--within striking distance of the Black Princess.
Another move and the game would be lost to Gahan unless the
Orange Odwar was overthrown, or Tara moved to a position of
safety; but to move his Princess now would be to admit his belief
in the superiority of the Orange. In the three squares allowed
him he could not place himself squarely upon the square occupied
by the Odwar of U-Dor's Princess. There was only one player upon
the Black side that might dispute the square with the enemy and
that was the Chief's Odwar, who stood upon Gahan's left. Gahan
The Chessmen of Mars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Sanitary and Social Lectures by Charles Kingsley: about the matter as a point of beauty--but simply to vie with each
other in obedience to something called fashion--that they should,
I say, have been in the habit of deliberately crushing that part
of the body which should be specially left free, contracting and
displacing their lungs, their heart, and all the most vital and
important organs, and entailing thereby disease, not only on
themselves but on their children after them; that for forty years
past physicians should have been telling them of the folly of what
they have been doing; and that they should as yet, in the great
majority of cases, not only turn a deaf ear to all warnings, but
actually deny the offence, of which one glance of the physician or
|
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 Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde: like any of my friends to be idle or sluggish. You must not mind
my speaking quite plainly to you. Of course I should not dream of
doing so if I were not your friend. But what is the good of
friendship if one cannot say exactly what one means? Anybody can
say charming things and try to please and to flatter, but a true
friend always says unpleasant things, and does not mind giving
pain. Indeed, if he is a really true friend he prefers it, for he
knows that then he is doing good.'
"'I am very sorry,' said little Hans, rubbing his eyes and pulling
off his night-cap, 'but I was so tired that I thought I would lie
in bed for a little time, and listen to the birds singing. Do you
|
