| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum: sorrow, but then it said with renewed confidence:
"Anyhow, my eyes can flash fire; and good fire,
too; good enough to set fire to a fence!"
"That is true," declared Scraps; "I saw it
done myself. But your ferocious growl isn't as
loud as the tick of a beetle--or one of Ojo's
snores when he's fast asleep."
"Perhaps," said the Woozy, humbly, "I have
been mistaken about my growl. It has always
sounded very fearful to me, but that may, have
been because it was so close to my ears."
The Patchwork Girl of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Cruise of the Jasper B. by Don Marquis: new anchors furnished by the contractor let down. Having the
anchors down seemed, somehow, to make things more shipshape. It
appeared that no one of the adventurers was acquainted with an
anchor song, and Cleggett, and, indeed, all on board, felt that
these anchors should be hoisted to the accompaniment of some
rousing chantey. Lady Agatha was especially insistent on the
point.
While they stood about the capstan debating the matter the
Reverend Simeon Calthrop hesitatingly offered a suggestion which
showed that, while he was a novice as far as the nautical life
was concerned, he was also a person of resource.
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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 Nana, Miller's Daughter, Captain Burle, Death of Olivier Becaille by Emile Zola: occasion the prince and Nana met, told the two women the whole story
while they in their turn crowded against him and laughed at the tops
of their voices whenever he stooped to whisper certain details in
their ears. Old Bosc had never budged an inch--he was totally
indifferent. That sort of thing no longer interested him now. He
was stroking a great tortoise-shell cat which was lying curled up on
the bench. He did so quite beautifully and ended by taking her in
his arms with the tender good nature becoming a worn-out monarch.
The cat arched its back and then, after a prolonged sniff at the big
white beard, the gluey odor of which doubtless disgusted her, she
turned and, curling herself up, went to sleep again on the bench
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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 Two Poets by Honore de Balzac: equals; we are uncomfortable in any other society. Paris, besides, is
the capital of the intellectual world, the stage on which you will
succeed; overleap the gulf that separates us quickly. You must not
allow your ideas to grow rancid in the provinces; put yourself into
communication at once with the great men who represent the nineteenth
century. Try to stand well with the Court and with those in power. No
honor, no distinction, comes to seek out the talent that perishes for
lack of light in a little town; tell me, if you can, the name of any
great work of art executed in the provinces! On the contrary, see how
Jean-Jacques, himself sublime in his poverty, felt the irresistible
attraction of that sun of the intellectual world, which produces ever-
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