| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: them in your hands, and the gold will fall to the ground."
Ivan did as he was directed, and immediately the gold began to
drop about his feet; and he remarked:
"This will be a fine trick to amuse the village boys with."
"Can I now take my departure?" asked the devil, to which Ivan
replied, "With God's blessing you may go."
At the mention of the name of God, the devil disappeared into the
earth.
CHAPTER VI.
The brothers, having finished their houses, moved into them and
The Kreutzer Sonata |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum: grew angry, and said to the Witch, "Give me back my shoe!"
"I will not," retorted the Witch, "for it is now my shoe, and
not yours."
"You are a wicked creature!" cried Dorothy. "You have no right
to take my shoe from me."
"I shall keep it, just the same," said the Witch, laughing at her,
"and someday I shall get the other one from you, too."
This made Dorothy so very angry that she picked up the bucket
of water that stood near and dashed it over the Witch, wetting her
from head to foot.
Instantly the wicked woman gave a loud cry of fear, and then, as
The Wizard of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: in ten English houses. But he could not take root in any of these;
with chagrin, he found his masters invariably whimsical and irregular,
constantly running about the country, or on the look-out for adventure.
His last master, young Lord Longferry, Member of Parliament,
after passing his nights in the Haymarket taverns, was too often
brought home in the morning on policemen's shoulders. Passepartout,
desirous of respecting the gentleman whom he served, ventured a mild
remonstrance on such conduct; which, being ill-received, he took his leave.
Hearing that Mr. Phileas Fogg was looking for a servant, and that his life
was one of unbroken regularity, that he neither travelled nor stayed
from home overnight, he felt sure that this would be the place he was after.
Around the World in 80 Days |
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 Complete Angler by Izaak Walton: him from the place that he contends for. This is his constant custom in
summer, when he and most living creatures sport themselves in the sun:
but at the approach of winter, then he forsakes the swift streams and
shallow waters, and, by degrees, retires to those parts of the river that
are quiet and deeper; in which places, and I think about that time he
spawns; and, as I have formerly told you, with the help of the melter,
hides his spawn or eggs in holes, which they both dig in the gravel; and
then they mutually labour to cover it with the same sand, to prevent it
from being devoured by other fish.
There be such store of this fish in the river Danube, that Rondeletius
says they may, in some places of it, and in some months of the year, be
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