| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Breaking Point by Mary Roberts Rinehart: too sick to talk when I saw him. You see, this is not addressed
to him, but to his uncle, David Livingstone. David Livingstone is
a brother of Henry Livingstone, who died some years ago at Dry
River. This refers to a personal matter connected with the
Livingstone estate."
The Sheriff took the letter and reread it. He was puzzled.
"You're a good talker," he acknowledged grudgingly. He turned to
the maid.
"All right, Hattie," he said. "We'll have that story again. But
just a minute." He turned to the reporter. "Mrs. Thorwald here
hasn't seen Lizzie Lazarus, the squaw. Lizzie has been sitting in
The Breaking Point |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: the sly? -- now how do I know whether to write to
Mary Jane or not? S'pose she dug him up and didn't
find nothing, what would she think of me? Blame it,
I says, I might get hunted up and jailed; I'd better
lay low and keep dark, and not write at all; the thing's
awful mixed now; trying to better it, I've worsened it
a hundred times, and I wish to goodness I'd just let it
alone, dad fetch the whole business!
They buried him, and we come back home, and I
went to watching faces again -- I couldn't help it, and
I couldn't rest easy. But nothing come of it; the
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from De Profundis by Oscar Wilde: if his place is among the poets, he is the leader of all the
lovers. He saw that love was the first secret of the world for
which the wise men had been looking, and that it was only through
love that one could approach either the heart of the leper or the
feet of God.
And above all, Christ is the most supreme of individualists.
Humility, like the artistic, acceptance of all experiences, is
merely a mode of manifestation. It is man's soul that Christ is
always looking for. He calls it 'God's Kingdom,' and finds it in
every one. He compares it to little things, to a tiny seed, to a
handful of leaven, to a pearl. That is because one realises one's
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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 Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: morning, and banquet at the Holy-Rood with Charles the Tenth at night.
There is but one reason that allows a decent man to go to both camps--
from Montague to Capulet! Ha, ha! I know who that stranger is. He's--"
"The president of a railway from Paris to Lyons, or Paris to Dijon, or
from Montereau to Troyes."
"That's true," said Antonin. "You have it. There's nothing but
speculation that is welcomed everywhere."
"Yes, just see how great names, great families, the old and the new
peerage are rushing hot-foot into enterprises and partnerships," said
Achille Pigoult.
"Francs attract the Franks," remarked Olivier Vinet, without a smile.
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