| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis: think you and me are rugged patriots. There's swell pickings for an honest
politician here, Hank: a whole city working to provide cigars and fried
chicken and dry martinis for us, and rallying to our banner with indignation,
oh, fierce indignation, whenever some squealer like this fellow Seneca Doane
comes along! Honest, Hank, a smart codger like me ought to be ashamed of
himself if he didn't milk cattle like them, when they come around mooing for
it! But the Traction gang can't get away with grand larceny like it used to. I
wonder when--Hank, I wish we could fix some way to run this fellow Seneca
Doane out of town. It's him or us!"
At that moment in Zenith, three hundred and forty or fifty thousand Ordinary
People were asleep, a vast unpenetrated shadow. In the slum beyond the
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: in the ditch.
The horse gave a start and quickly climbed out onto the frozen
bank. It was evidently a ditch that had been dug there.
'Where are we now?' asked Vasili Andreevich.
'We'll soon find out!' Nikita replied. 'Go on, we'll get
somewhere.'
'Why, this must be the Goryachkin forest!' said Vasili
Andreevich, pointing to something dark that appeared amid the
snow in front of them.
'We'll see what forest it is when we get there,' said Nikita.
He saw that beside the black thing they had noticed, dry,
Master and Man |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Desert Gold by Zane Grey: the trip in five hours. I went straight to the camp of the
cavalrymen, an' found them just coolin' off an' dressin' down their
hosses after what looked to me like a big ride. I got there too
late for the fireworks.
"Some soldier took me to an officer's tent. Nell was there, some
white an' all in. She just said, 'Laddy!' Thorne was there, too,
an' he was bein' worked over by the camp doctor. I didn't ask no
questions, because I seen quiet was needed round that tent. After
satisfying myself that Nell was all right, an' Thorne in no danger,
I went out.
"Shore there was so darn many fellers who wanted to an' tried to
Desert Gold |
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 Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum: with jelly or mutton-chops with gravy?"
Ojo thought about it. Then he said: "I'll take
the chops, if you please."
"Very well; amuse yourself while I'm gone;
I won't be long," and then she went out by a
door and left the prisoner alone.
Ojo was much astonished, for not only was this
unlike any prison he had ever heard of, but he was
being treated more as a guest than a criminal.
There were many windows and they bad no locks.
There were three doors to the room and none were
The Patchwork Girl of Oz |
