| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from New Arabian Nights by Robert Louis Stevenson: by way of recompense."
The young man seemed to reflect.
"I have still several dozen upon hand," he said at last; "and that
will make it necessary for me to visit several more bars before my
great affair is concluded. This will take some time; and if you
are hungry - "
The Prince interrupted him with a polite gesture.
"My friend and I will accompany you," he said; "for we have already
a deep interest in your very agreeable mode of passing an evening.
And now that the preliminaries of peace are settled, allow me to
sign the treaty for both."
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from 1984 by George Orwell: abuse, accusing and sheltering behind one another, whimpering for mercy.
And yet after only a few years the same thing had happened over again.
The dead men had become martyrs and their degradation was forgotten. Once
again, why was it? In the first place, because the confessions that they
had made were obviously extorted and untrue. We do not make mistakes of
that kind. All the confessions that are uttered here are true. We make
them true. And above all we do not allow the dead to rise up against us.
You must stop imagining that posterity will vindicate you, Winston.
Posterity will never hear of you. You will be lifted clean out from the
stream of history. We shall turn you into gas and pour you into the
stratosphere. Nothing will remain of you, not a name in a register, not
1984 |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Dreams by Olive Schreiner: cry, 'My brothers and my sisters, stay! what is it that we drink?'--and
with his sword should cut in two the curtain, and holding wide the
fragments, cry, 'Brothers, sisters, see! it is not wine, not wine! not
wine! My brothers, oh, my sisters!' and he should overturn the--"
God said, "Be still!--, see there."
I looked: before the banquet-house, among the grass, I saw a row of
mounds, flowers covered them, and gilded marble stood at their heads. I
asked God what they were.
He answered, "They are the graves of those who rose up at the feast and
cried."
And I asked God how they came there.
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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 Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: waited silently; she knew that the notary's voice was more potent than
hers, and she seemed to have decided to say nothing. At the moment
when Roguin ceased speaking, the scene had become so terrifying that
the men who were there as witnesses trembled; never, perhaps, had they
known so awful a silence. The notaries looked at each other, as if in
consultation, and finally rose and walked to the window.
"Did you ever meet people born into the world like that?" asked Roguin
of his brother notary.
"You can't get anything out of him," replied the younger man. "In your
place, I should simply read the summons. That old fellow isn't a
comfortable person; he is furious, and you'll gain nothing whatever by
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