| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft: and this girl--I advised him--yes, I did! would I could forget it!--
to turn out of doors: and one night he determined to follow
my advice. Poor wretch! She fell upon her knees, reminded him that
he had promised to marry her, that her parents were honest!--
What did it avail?--She was turned out.
"She approached her father's door, in the skirts of London,
--listened at the shutters,--but could not knock. A watchman had
observed her go and return several times--Poor wretch!--[The remorse
Jemima spoke of, seemed to be stinging her to the soul, as she
proceeded.]
"She left it, and, approaching a tub where horses were watered,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain: de worl'! Pah! it make me sick! It's de nigger in you,
dat's what it is. Thirty-one parts o' you is white, en on'y one
part nigger, en dat po' little one part is yo' _soul_.
'Tain't wuth savin'; tain't wuth totin' out on a shovel en throwin'
en de gutter. You has disgraced yo' birth. What would yo' pa
think o' you? It's enough to make him turn in his grave.
The last three sentences stung Tom into a fury, and he said to
himself that if his father were only alive and in reach of assassination
his mother would soon find that he had a very clear notion of the
size of his indebtedness to that man, and was willing to pay it
up in full, and would do it too, even at risk of his life;
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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 Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft: middle-aged man who had travelled all the way from New Orleans
for certain special information unobtainable from any local source.
His name was John Raymond Legrasse, and he was by profession an
Inspector of Police. With him he bore the subject of his visit,
a grotesque, repulsive, and apparently very ancient stone statuette
whose origin he was at a loss to determine. It must not be fancied
that Inspector Legrasse had the least interest in archaeology.
On the contrary, his wish for enlightenment was prompted by purely
professional considerations. The statuette, idol, fetish, or whatever
it was, had been captured some months before in the wooded swamps
south of New Orleans during a raid on a supposed voodoo meeting;
Call of Cthulhu |
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 Bucky O'Connor by William MacLeod Raine: paymaster of the Yuba reservoir. It was to avoid any more of
these that Major Mackenzie took charge personally of paying the
men. He has made good up till now. But there have been rumors for
months that he would be held up either before leaving the train
or while he was crossing the desert. He didn't want to be seen
taking the boodle from the express company at Tucson. He would
rather have the impression get out that this was just a casual
visit. It occurred to him to bring along some unsuspected party
to help him out. The robbers would never expect to find the money
on a woman. That's why the major brought his daughter with him.
Doesn't it make you some uneasy to be carrying fifty thousand in
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