| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Damnation of Theron Ware by Harold Frederic: "I think she has as much praise as is good for her,"
remarked the priest, quietly.
"And here's a thing that puzzles me," pursued Mr. Ware.
"I was immensely surprised to find that Dr. Ledsmar
doesn't even think she is smart--or at least he professes
the utmost intellectual contempt for her, and says
he dislikes her into the bargain. But of course she
dislikes him, too, so that's only natural. But I can't
understand his denying her great ability."
The priest smiled in a dubious way. "Don't borrow
unnecessary alarm about that, Mr. Ware," he said,
The Damnation of Theron Ware |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Silverado Squatters by Robert Louis Stevenson: it with our feet, and groping for these written evidences of
the past, Sam, with a somewhat whitened face, produced a
paper bag. "What's this?" said he. It contained a
granulated powder, something the colour of Gregory's Mixture,
but rosier; and as there were several of the bags, and each
more or less broken, the powder was spread widely on the
floor. Had any of us ever seen giant powder? No, nobody
had; and instantly there grew up in my mind a shadowy belief,
verging with every moment nearer to certitude, that I had
somewhere heard somebody describe it as just such a powder as
the one around us. I have learnt since that it is a
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Herland by Charlotte Gilman: Terry had his own ideas, as I've tried to show. I daresay he
thought he had a right to do as he did. Perhaps he even convinced
himself that it would be better for her. Anyhow, he hid himself
in her bedroom one night . . .
The women of Herland have no fear of men. Why should
they have? They are not timid in any sense. They are not weak;
and they all have strong trained athletic bodies. Othello could
not have extinguished Alima with a pillow, as if she were a mouse.
Terry put in practice his pet conviction that a woman loves
to be mastered, and by sheer brute force, in all the pride and
passion of his intense masculinity, he tried to master this woman.
Herland |
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 Grimm's Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm: fiddle and played away, and the miser began to dance and spring about,
capering higher and higher in the air. The thorns soon began to tear
his clothes till they all hung in rags about him, and he himself was
all scratched and wounded, so that the blood ran down. 'Oh, for
heaven's sake!' cried the miser, 'Master! master! pray let the fiddle
alone. What have I done to deserve this?' 'Thou hast shaved many a
poor soul close enough,' said the other; 'thou art only meeting thy
reward': so he played up another tune. Then the miser began to beg and
promise, and offered money for his liberty; but he did not come up to
the musician's price for some time, and he danced him along brisker
and brisker, and the miser bid higher and higher, till at last he
Grimm's Fairy Tales |
