| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs:
"Follow me," said one of the guard, and, turning, led me
across the outer courtyard toward a second buttressed wall.
Why the apparent ease with which I seemingly deceived them did not
rouse my suspicions I know not, unless it was that my mind was still
so full of that fleeting glimpse of my beloved princess that there
was room in it for naught else. Be that as it may, the fact is that
I marched buoyantly behind my guide straight into the jaws of death.
Afterward I learned that thern spies had been aware of my
The Warlord of Mars |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Enemies of Books by William Blades: to be the utmost limit to the speculative turn of my competitors.
The _bonne bouche_ of the lot was, however, kept back by
the auctioneer, because, as he said, it was `a pretty book,'
and I began to respect his critical judgment, for `a pretty book'
it was, being a large paper copy of Dibdin's Bibliographical Decameron,
three volumes, in the original binding. Suffice it to say that,
including this charming book, my purchases did not amount to L13,
and I had pretty well a cart-load of books for my money--more than
I wanted much! Having brought them home, I `weeded them out,'
and the `weeding' realised four times what I gave for the whole,
leaving me with some real book treasures.
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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 The Firm of Nucingen by Honore de Balzac: two daughters and Godefroid, when Rastignac came in with a diplomatic
air to steer the conversation on the financial crisis. The Baron de
Nucingen felt a lively regard for the d'Aldrigger family; he was
prepared, if things went amiss, to cover the Baroness' account with
his best securities, to wit, some shares in the argentiferous lead-
mines, but the application must come from the lady.
" 'Poor Nucingen!' said the Baroness. 'What can have become of him?'
" 'He is in Belgium. His wife is petitioning for a separation of her
property; but he had gone to see if he can arrange with some bankers
to see him through.'
" 'Dear me! That reminds me of my poor husband! Dear M. de Rastignac,
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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 Symposium by Plato: self-neglect, because they did not like to do anything apart; and when one
of the halves died and the other survived, the survivor sought another
mate, man or woman as we call them,--being the sections of entire men or
women,--and clung to that. They were being destroyed, when Zeus in pity of
them invented a new plan: he turned the parts of generation round to the
front, for this had not been always their position, and they sowed the seed
no longer as hitherto like grasshoppers in the ground, but in one another;
and after the transposition the male generated in the female in order that
by the mutual embraces of man and woman they might breed, and the race
might continue; or if man came to man they might be satisfied, and rest,
and go their ways to the business of life: so ancient is the desire of one
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