| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: nothing; I hold myself in, I wait, inventing amusements for
myself --the English family, writing, reading--but it's all
nothing but a sham, it's all the same as morphine. He ought to
feel for me," she said, feeling tears of self-pity coming into
her eyes.
She heard Vronsky's abrupt ring and hurriedly dried her tears not
only dried her tears, but sat down by a lamp and opened a book,
affecting composure. She wanted to show him that she was
displeased that he had not come home as he had promised--
displeased only,and not on any account to let him see her
distress, and least of all, her self-pity. She might pity
Anna Karenina |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Plain Tales from the Hills by Rudyard Kipling: enough: "Why on earth can't Strickland sit in his office and write
up his diary, and recruit, and keep quiet, instead of showing up
the incapacity of his seniors?" So the Nasiban Murder Case did him
no good departmentally; but, after his first feeling of wrath, he
returned to his outlandish custom of prying into native life. By
the way, when a man once acquires a taste for this particular
amusement, it abides with him all his days. It is the most
fascinating thing in the world; Love not excepted. Where other men
took ten days to the Hills, Strickland took leave for what he
called shikar, put on the disguise that appealed to him at the
time, stepped down into the brown crowd, and was swallowed up for a
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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 Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne: could not be seen, but they could be heard. The fires of
the outposts burned brightly.
In the meantime it had become necessary to steer more
carefully among the blocks of ice. The old boatman stood
up, and the moujiks resumed their poles. They had plenty
of work, the management of the raft becoming more and
more difficult as the river was further obstructed.
Michael had crept forward; Jolivet followed; both lis-
tened to what the old boatman and his men were saying.
"Look out on the right!"
"There are blocks drifting on to us on the left!"
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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 Fisherman's Luck by Henry van Dyke: origin. But it is quite certain that since the days after the
Flood, when Deucalion
"Did first this art invent
Of angling, and his people taught the same,"
two honest and good-natured anglers have never met each other by the
way without crying out, "What luck?"
Here, indeed, is an epitome of the gentle art. Here is the spirit
of it embodied in a word and paying its respects to you with its
native accent. Here you see its secret charms unconsciously
disclosed. The attraction of angling for all the ages of man, from
the cradle to the grave, lies in its uncertainty. 'Tis an affair of
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