| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Footnote to History by Robert Louis Stevenson: scattered trees, bade them wait, let him draw the fire, and then be
swift to follow. Perhaps a dozen balls whistled about him ere he
had crossed the dangerous passage and dropped on the farther side
into the crow's-nest; the white men, briskly following, escaped
unhurt. The crow's-nest was built like a bartizan on the
precipitous front of the position. Across the ravine, perhaps at
five hundred yards, heads were to be seen popping up and down in a
fort of Tamesese's. On both sides the same enthusiasm without
council, the same senseless vigilance, reigned. Some took aim;
some blazed before them at a venture. Now - when a head showed on
the other side - one would take a crack at it, remarking that it
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner: insinuating deception, made him a present of a pot of pomatum. How,
applying it in the evening, on rising in the morning he found his pillow
strewn with the golden locks, and, looking into the glass, beheld the
shining and smooth expanse which henceforth he must bear. The few
remaining hairs were turned to a silvery whiteness, and the young lady
married his rival.
"And," said Tant Sannie solemnly, "if it had not been for the grace of God,
and reading of the psalms, he says he would have killed himself. He says
he could kill himself quite easily if he wants to marry a woman and she
won't."
"Alle wereld!" said Trana: and then they went to sleep.
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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 Alexander's Bridge by Willa Cather: walked about it, but none of them ventured
to peer within. Even half-indifferent sight-
seers dropped their voices as they told a
newcomer: "You see that carriage over there?
That's Mrs. Alexander. They haven't found
him yet. She got off the train this morning.
Horton met her. She heard it in Boston yesterday
--heard the newsboys crying it in the street.
At noon Philip Horton made his way
through the crowd with a tray and a tin
coffee-pot from the camp kitchen. When he
Alexander's Bridge |
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 Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: into the staring sun.
The captain watched him clear of the courtyard; then turned
to Herrick.
'What is it?' asked Herrick thickly.
'I'll tell you,' said Davis. 'I want to consult you. It's a
chance we've got. What's that?' he cried, pointing to the music
on the wall.
'What?' said the other. 'Oh, that! It's music; it's a phrase of
Beethoven's I was writing up. It means Destiny knocking at the
door.'
'Does it?' said the captain, rather low; and he went near and
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