| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from New Arabian Nights by Robert Louis Stevenson: conscience."
"I own myself wrong," replied Silas. "I should have remembered how
generously you offered to shield me, even before I had convinced
you of my innocence, and I continue to listen to your counsels with
gratitude."
"That is well," returned the Doctor; "and I perceive you are
beginning to learn some of the lessons of experience."
"At the same time," resumed the New-Englander, "as you confess
yourself accustomed o this tragical business, and the people to
whom you recommend me are your own former associates and friends,
could you not yourself undertake the transport of the box, and rid
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Very well," he answered. "I'm ready."
Through the big hall they went, up the grand staircase carpeted thick
with velvet, and so along a wide corridor to a carved doorway. Here
the servant paused, and opening the door said with polite deference:
"Be good enough to enter, sir, and make yourself at home in the rooms
our Royal Ozma has ordered prepared for you. Whatever you see is for
you to use and enjoy, as if your own. The Princess dines at seven, and
I shall be here in time to lead you to the drawing-room, where you
will be privileged to meet the lovely Ruler of Oz. Is there any
command, in the meantime, with which you desire to honor me?"
"No," said the shaggy man; "but I'm much obliged."
The Road to Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Wife, et al by Anton Chekhov: the telegraph-posts, about which clouds of dust were whirling,
and at the sleepy birds sitting on the wires, and I suddenly felt
so dreary that I began to cry.
A dusty wagonette crammed full of townspeople, probably going to
visit the shrine, drove by along the main road. The wagonette was
hardly out of sight when a light chaise with a pair of horses
came into view. In it was Akim Nikititch, the police inspector,
standing up and holding on to the coachman's belt. To my great
surprise, the chaise turned into our road and flew by me in at
the gate. While I was puzzling why the police inspector had come
to see us, I heard a noise, and a carriage with three horses came
|
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 Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: everywhere else, scenes of the highest interest presented
themselves. It was by one of these ravines, that Pincheira
entered Chile and ravaged the neighbouring country. This
is the same man whose attack on an estancia at the Rio Negro
I have described. He was a renegade half-caste Spaniard,
who collected a great body of Indians together and established
himself by a stream in the Pampas, which place none
of the forces sent after him could ever discover. From this
point he used to sally forth, and crossing the Cordillera by
passes hitherto unattempted, he ravaged the farm-houses
and drove the cattle to his secret rendezvous. Pincheira was
The Voyage of the Beagle |
