| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac: apartments, prohibiting any repairs whatever, and even settling a
salary to pay watchmen if it were needful to secure the absolute
fulfilment of her intentions. At the expiration of that term, if the
will of the testatrix has been duly carried out, the house is to
become the property of my heirs, for, as you know, a notary cannot
take a bequest. Otherwise la Grande Breteche reverts to the heirs-at-
law, but on condition of fulfilling certain conditions set forth in a
codicil to the will, which is not to be opened till the expiration of
the said term of fifty years. The will has not been disputed, so----'
And without finishing his sentence, the lanky notary looked at me with
an air of triumph; I made him quite happy by offering him my
La Grande Breteche |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tom Sawyer, Detective by Mark Twain: "By authority of the State of Arkansaw, I arrest you
for the murder of Jubiter Dunlap!" shouts the sheriff
at the door.
It was awful. Aunt Sally and Benny flung themselves at
Uncle Silas, screaming and crying, and hugged him and hung
to him, and Aunt Sally said go away, she wouldn't ever
give him up, they shouldn't have him, and the niggers
they come crowding and crying to the door and--well, I
couldn't stand it; it was enough to break a person's heart;
so I got out.
They took him up to the little one-horse jail in the village,
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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 The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: funeral cortege should follow substantially the same route over
which Lincoln had come in 1861 to take possession of the office
to which he added a new dignity and value for all time. On April
21, accompanied by a guard of honor, and in a train decked with
somber trappings, the journey was begun. At Baltimore, through
which, four years before, it was a question whether the
President-elect could pass with safety to his life, the coffin
was taken with reverent care to the great dome of the Exchange,
where, surrounded with evergreens and lilies, it lay for several
hours, the people passing by in mournful throngs. The same
demonstration was repeated, gaining constantly in depth of
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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 Call of the Canyon by Zane Grey: That spring day, one year from the day she had left New York for Arizona,
she wished to spend alone. But her thoughts grew unbearable. She summed up
the endless year. Could she live another like it? Something must break
within her.
She went out. The air was warm and balmy, carrying that subtle current
which caused the mild madness of spring fever. In the Park the greening of
the grass, the opening of buds, the singing of birds, the gladness of
children, the light on the water, the warm sun--all seemed to reproach her.
Carley fled from the Park to the home of Beatrice Lovell; and there,
unhappily, she encountered those of her acquaintance with whom she had
least patience. They forced her to think too keenly of herself. They
The Call of the Canyon |
