| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle: who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush
are, I think, all that we need."
At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for
Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove
for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey laries. It was a
perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the
heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out
their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant
smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange
contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this
sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from An Inland Voyage by Robert Louis Stevenson: exchanged salvos overhead; while all round the horizon we could see
sunshine and clear air upon the hills. What with the guns and the
thunder, the herds were all frightened in the Golden Valley. We
could see them tossing their heads, and running to and fro in
timorous indecision; and when they had made up their minds, and the
donkey followed the horse, and the cow was after the donkey, we
could hear their hooves thundering abroad over the meadows. It had
a martial sound, like cavalry charges. And altogether, as far as
the ears are concerned, we had a very rousing battle-piece
performed for our amusement.
At last the guns and the thunder dropped off; the sun shone on the
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Crisis in Russia by Arthur Ransome: it for clothes, made paper dresses, table-cloths, etc. In
Russia the nets used in paper-making are worn out. At last,
in April, 1920 (so Lenin told me), there seemed to be a hope
of getting new ones from abroad. But the condition of the
paper industry is typical of all, in a country which, it should
not be forgotten, could be in a position to supply wood-pulp
for other countries besides itself. The factories are able to
produce only sixty per cent. of demands that have
previously, by the strictest scrutiny, been reduced to a
minimum before they are made. The reasons, apart from
the lack of nets and cloths, are summed up in absence of
|
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 At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: ignorant. Lightness of wit and the graces of conversation are a gift
of nature, or the fruit of education begun in the cradle. She could
appreciate music and enjoy it, but she could not sing with taste. She
understood literature and the beauties of poetry, but it was too late
to cultivate her refractory memory. She listened with pleasure to
social conversation, but she could contribute nothing brilliant. Her
religious notions and home-grown prejudices were antagonistic to the
complete emancipation of her intelligence. Finally, a foregone
conclusion against her had stolen into Theodore's mind, and this she
could not conquer. The artist would laugh, at those who flattered him
about his wife, and his irony had some foundation; he so overawed the
|
