| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: could accomplish almost anything that her mistress, the lovely girl
Ruler of Oz, wished her to.
Of all the magical things which surrounded Glinda in her castle, there
was none more marvelous than her Great Book of Records. On the pages
of this Record Book were constantly being inscribed, day by day and
hour by hour, all the important events that happened anywhere in the
known world, and they were inscribed in the book at exactly the moment
the events happened. Every adventure in the Land of Oz and in the big
outside world, and even in places that you and I have never heard of,
were recorded accurately in the Great Book, which never made a mistake
and stated only the exact truth. For that reason, nothing could be
The Lost Princess of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tales of the Klondyke by Jack London: more shovel-handles than women's hands in his time, so this was an
experience quite new and delightfully strange. And when Freda
turned her head against his shoulder, her hair brushing his cheek
till his eyes met hers, full and at close range, luminously soft,
ay, and tender--why, whose fault was it that he lost his grip
utterly? False to Flossie, why not to Loraine? Even if the women
did keep bothering him, that was no reason he should make up his
mind in a hurry. Why, he had slathers of money, and Freda was
just the girl to grace it. A wife she'd make him for other men to
envy. But go slow. He must be cautious.
"You don't happen to care for palaces, do you?" he asked.
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela: Villa's northern division.
Demetrio warmed to his praise. Gratefully, he heard his
prowess vaunted, though at times he found it difficult to
believe he was the hero of the exploits the other nar-
rated. But Solis' story proved so charming, so con-
vincing, that before long he found himself repeating it
as gospel truth.
"Natera is a genius!" Luis Cervantes said when they had
returned to the hotel. "But Captain Solis is a nobody
. . . a timeserver."
Demetrio Macias was too elated to listen to him.
The Underdogs |
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 McTeague by Frank Norris: "If I had my rights," cried Marcus, bitterly, "I'd have part
of that money. It's my due--it's only justice." The
dentist still kept silence.
"If it hadn't been for me," Marcus continued, addressing
himself directly to McTeague, "you wouldn't have had a cent
of it--no, not a cent. Where's my share, I'd like to know?
Where do I come in? No, I ain't in it any more. I've been
played for a sucker, an' now that you've got all you can out
of me, now that you've done me out of my girl and out of my
money, you give me the go-by. Why, where would you have
been TO-DAY if it hadn't been for me?" Marcus shouted
McTeague |
