| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Where is it? Give it to me at once!"
"He took it," replied Meriem, dully.
"What was it?" again demanded The Sheik, seizing the girl
roughly by the hair and dragging her to her feet, where he shook
her venomously. "What was it a picture of?"
"Of me," said Meriem, "when I was a little girl. I stole it
from Malbihn, the Swede--it had printing on the back cut from
an old newspaper."
The Sheik went white with rage.
"What said the printing?" he asked in a voice so low that she
but barely caught his words.
The Son of Tarzan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: pitch-kettle would dispose of for us. We therefore got all our
things on board the same evening, and the next morning were ready
to sail: in the meantime, lying at anchor at some distance from
the shore, we were not so much concerned, being now in a fighting
posture, as well as in a sailing posture, if any enemy had
presented. The next day, having finished our work within board,
and finding our ship was perfectly healed of all her leaks, we set
sail. We would have gone into the bay of Tonquin, for we wanted to
inform ourselves of what was to be known concerning the Dutch ships
that had been there; but we durst not stand in there, because we
had seen several ships go in, as we supposed, but a little before;
Robinson Crusoe |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Nana, Miller's Daughter, Captain Burle, Death of Olivier Becaille by Emile Zola: tumble-down tower. It really wasn't worth coming a couple of
leagues to see that! Then the driver pointed out to them the
countryseat, the park of which stretched away from the abbey, and he
advised them to take a little path and follow the walls surrounding
it. They would thus make the tour of the place while the carriages
would go and await them in the village square. It was a delightful
walk, and the company agreed to the proposition.
"Lord love me, Irma knows how to take care of herself!" said Gaga,
halting before a gate at the corner of the park wall abutting on the
highroad.
All of them stood silently gazing at the enormous bush which stopped
|
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 Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft: dreamer might pray. Save for the one tower room the onyx castle
atop Kadath was dark, and the masters were not there. Carter had
come to unknown Kadath in the cold waste, but he had not found
the gods. Yet still the lurid light glowed in that one tower room
whose size was so little less than that of all outdoors, and whose
distant walls and roof were so nearly lost to sight in thin, curling
mists. Earth's gods were not there, it was true, but of subtler
and less visible presences there could be no lack. Where the mild
gods are absent, the Other Gods are not unrepresented; and certainly,
the onyx castle of castles was far from tenantless. In what outrageous
form or forms terror would next reveal itself Carter could by
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath |
