| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley: himself, and crawl along the edge to find a crack; for if he had
rolled over, he would have rolled right into the old woman's
garden, and frightened her out of her wits.
Then, when he had found a dark narrow crack, full of green-stalked
fern, such as hangs in the basket in the drawing-room, and had
crawled down through it, with knees and elbows, as he would down a
chimney, there was another grass slope, and another step, and so
on, till - oh, dear me! I wish it was all over; and so did he.
And yet he thought he could throw a stone into the old woman's
garden.
At last he came to a bank of beautiful shrubs; white-beam with its
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Pocket Diary Found in the Snow by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: wore plain clothes.
"Well?" the latter asked.
"Nothing new. Mr. Fellner has been ill in bed several days, quite
seriously ill, they tell me. The janitor seems very fond of him.
"Hm - we'll see what sort of a man he is. You can go back to the
station now, you must be nearly frozen standing here."
Muller looked carefully at the house which bore the number 14. It
was a handsome, old-fashioned building, a true patrician mansion
which looked worthy of all confidence. But Muller knew that the
outside of a house has very little to do with the honesty of the
people who live in it. He rang the bell carefully, as he wished no
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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 Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: and the Kirk; but we'll no hurt a hair o' your heads, if ye like
to gang hame quietly. And it will be your best way, for there's
sure news come frae Loudoun, that him they ca' Bang, or Byng, or
what is't, has bang'd the French ships and the new king aff the
coast however; sae ye had best bide content wi' auld Nanse for
want of a better Queen."
Ratcliffe, who at this moment entered, confirmed these accounts
so unfavourable to the Jacobite interest. Sir Frederick, almost
instantly, and without taking leave of any one, left the castle,
with such of his attendants as were able to follow him.
"And what will you do, Mr. Mareschal?" said Ratcliffe.
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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 Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honore de Balzac: triumph, Cesar got into the coach to go to his own home, where the
marriage contract of his dear Cesarine and the devoted Popinot was
ready for signature. His nervous laugh disturbed the minds of the
three old friends.
It is a fault of youth to think the whole world vigorous with its own
vigor,--a fault derived from its virtues. Youth sees neither men nor
things through spectacles; it colors all with the reflex glory of its
ardent fires, and casts the superabundance of its own life upon the
aged. Like Cesar and like Constance, Popinot held in his memory a
glowing recollection of the famous ball. Constance and Cesar through
their years of trial had often, though they never spoke of it to each
Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau |
