| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad: distant corner, was but a little more opaque shadow than the
others. He had expected me on board every moment till about three
o'clock, but as I didn't turn up and gave no sign of life in any
other way he started on his hunt. He sought news of me from the
garcons at the various cafes, from the cochers de fiacre in front
of the Exchange, from the tobacconist lady at the counter of the
fashionable Debit de Tabac, from the old man who sold papers
outside the cercle, and from the flower-girl at the door of the
fashionable restaurant where I had my table. That young woman,
whose business name was Irma, had come on duty about mid-day. She
said to Dominic: "I think I've seen all his friends this morning
The Arrow of Gold |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: -- and even then most vaguely and imperfectly -- by recalling
what she herself had been during that momentous period while
Pearl was imbibing her soul from the spiritual world, and her
bodily frame from its material of earth. The mother's
impassioned state had been the medium through which were
transmitted to the unborn infant the rays of its moral life; and,
however white and clear originally, they had taken the deep
stains of crimson and gold, the fiery lustre, the black shadow,
and the untempered light of the intervening substance. Above
all, the warfare of Hester's spirit at that epoch was perpetuated
in Pearl. She could
The Scarlet Letter |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Fantastic Fables by Ambrose Bierce: day, when the Committee was called to order for business, one of
the luckless six mounted his legs, and said:
"Mr. Chairman, before we bend to our noble task of purifying
politics, in the interest of good government I wish to say a word
of the untoward events of last evening. If my memory serves me the
disasters which overtook the Majority of this honourable body
always befell when it was the Minority's deal. It is my solemn
conviction, Mr. Chairman, and to its affirmation I pledge my life,
my fortune, and my sacred honour, that that wicked and unscrupulous
Minority redistricted the cards!"
The Sportsman and the Squirrel
Fantastic Fables |
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 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: "Run, Jimmie, run! Dey'll get yehs," screamed a retreating
Rum Alley child.
"Naw," responded Jimmie with a valiant roar, "dese micks can't
make me run."
Howls of renewed wrath went up from Devil's Row throats.
Tattered gamins on the right made a furious assault on the gravel
heap. On their small, convulsed faces there shone the grins of
true assassins. As they charged, they threw stones and cursed in
shrill chorus.
The little champion of Rum Alley stumbled precipitately down
the other side. His coat had been torn to shreds in a scuffle, and
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |
