| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli: against the Venetians, and he, having overcome the enemy at
Caravaggio,[*] allied himself with them to crush the Milanese, his
masters. His father, Sforza, having been engaged by Queen Johanna[+]
of Naples, left her unprotected, so that she was forced to throw
herself into the arms of the King of Aragon, in order to save her
kingdom. And if the Venetians and Florentines formerly extended their
dominions by these arms, and yet their captains did not make
themselves princes, but have defended them, I reply that the
Florentines in this case have been favoured by chance, for of the able
captains, of whom they might have stood in fear, some have not
conquered, some have been opposed, and others have turned their
The Prince |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Jolly Corner by Henry James: sordidly, he had yielded to the humour of seeing again his house on
the jolly corner, as he usually, and quite fondly, described it -
the one in which he had first seen the light, in which various
members of his family had lived and had died, in which the holidays
of his overschooled boyhood had been passed and the few social
flowers of his chilled adolescence gathered, and which, alienated
then for so long a period, had, through the successive deaths of
his two brothers and the termination of old arrangements, come
wholly into his hands. He was the owner of another, not quite so
"good" - the jolly corner having been, from far back, superlatively
extended and consecrated; and the value of the pair represented his
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie: the judge angrily threatened to have the court cleared if there
was not immediate silence.
There was little more evidence. The hand-writing experts were
called upon for their opinion of the signature of "Alfred
Inglethorp" in the chemist's poison register. They all declared
unanimously that it was certainly not his hand-writing, and gave
it as their view that it might be that of the prisoner disguised.
Cross-examined, they admitted that it might be the prisoner's
hand-writing cleverly counterfeited.
Sir Ernest Heavywether's speech in opening the case for the
defence was not a long one, but it was backed by the full force
The Mysterious Affair at Styles |
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 Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: and leisurely alterations, the novice's earths will increase in
depth as well as in diameter and become roomy abodes, similar to
those of the grandmothers. In both, we find the owner and her
family, the latter sometimes already hatched and sometimes still
enclosed in the satin wallet.
Seeing no digging-tools, such as the excavation of the dwelling
seemed to me to require, I wondered whether the Lycosa might not
avail herself of some chance gallery, the work of the Cicada or the
Earth-worm. This ready-made tunnel, thought I, must shorten the
labours of the Spider, who appears to be so badly off for tools;
she would only have to enlarge it and put it in order. I was
The Life of the Spider |
