| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Buttered Side Down by Edna Ferber: had fallen upon his shoulders. The folded napkin under his left
arm seemed to have been placed there by nature, so perfectly did it
fit into place. The ghostly tread, the little whisking skip, the
half-simper, the deferential bend that had in it at the same time
something of insolence, all were there; the very "Yes, miss," and
"Very good, sir," rose automatically and correctly to his untrained
lips. Cinderella rising resplendent from her ash-strewn hearth was
not more completely transformed than Heiny in his role of Henri.
And with the transformation Miss Gussie Fink had been left behind
her desk disconsolate.
Kitchens are as quick to seize upon these things and gossip
Buttered Side Down |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Crisis in Russia by Arthur Ransome: Moscow during a number of years. Each year was
represented by the picture of a factory with a chimney which
rose and fell with the population. From that diagram I took
the figures for 1913, 1918 and 1919. These figures should
be constantly borne in mind by any one who wishes to realize
how catastrophic the shortage oflabor in Russia
actually is, and to judge how sweeping may be the
changes in the social configuration of the country if that shortage
continues to increase. Here are the figures:
Workmen in Moscow in 1913............159,344
Workmen in Moscow in 1918 ...........157,282
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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 Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: clothes. After a time, however, the brave old Canterville spirit
asserted itself, and he determined to go and speak to the other
ghost as soon as it was daylight. Accordingly, just as the dawn
was touching the hills with silver, he returned towards the spot
where he had first laid eyes on the grisly phantom, feeling that,
after all, two ghosts were better than one, and that, by the aid of
his new friend, he might safely grapple with the twins. On
reaching the spot, however, a terrible sight met his gaze.
Something had evidently happened to the spectre, for the light had
entirely faded from its hollow eyes, the gleaming falchion had
fallen from its hand, and it was leaning up against the wall in a
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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 Cousin Betty by Honore de Balzac: the Directoire with regard to women, his career of gallantry was
interrupted for some long time by his conjugal affection.
To Adeline the Baron was from the first a sort of god who could do no
wrong. To him she owed everything: fortune--she had a carriage, a fine
house, every luxury of the day; happiness--he was devoted to her in
the face of the world; a title, for she was a Baroness; fame, for she
was spoken of as the beautiful Madame Hulot--and in Paris! Finally,
she had the honor of refusing the Emperor's advances, for Napoleon
made her a present of a diamond necklace, and always remembered her,
asking now and again, "And is the beautiful Madame Hulot still a model
of virtue?" in the tone of a man who might have taken his revenge on
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