| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: the stick was laid before him, he could doubt no longer; broken
and battered as it was, he recognized it for one that he had
himself presented many years before to Henry Jekyll.
"Is this Mr. Hyde a person of small stature?" he inquired.
"Particularly small and particularly wicked-looking, is what
the maid calls him," said the officer.
Mr. Utterson reflected; and then, raising his head, "If you
will come with me in my cab," he said, "I think I can take you to
his house."
It was by this time about nine in the morning, and the first
fog of the season. A great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Country Doctor by Honore de Balzac: face which had nothing very remarkable about it save a certain
flatness of feature which called to mind the Cossack and Russian
countenances that since the disasters of 1814 have unfortunately come
to be so widely known in France. La Fosseuse was, in fact, very like
these men of the North. Her nose turned up at the end, and was sunk in
her face, her mouth was wide and her chin small, her hands and arms
were red and, like her feet, were of the peasant type, large and
strong. Although she had been used to an outdoor life, to exposure to
the sun and the scorching summer winds, her complexion had the
bleached look of withered grass; but after the first glance this made
her face more interesting, and there was such a sweet expression in
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: or how I suffered then, first in jealous rage, and then in
bitter resentment against the fate that I had not deserved.
I went back to the apes after that, Jane, intending never
again to see a human being." He told her then of his life
since he had returned to the jungle--of how he had dropped
like a plummet from a civilized Parisian to a savage Waziri
warrior, and from there back to the brute that he had been raised.
She asked him many questions, and at last fearfully of the
things that Monsieur Thuran had told her--of the woman in Paris.
He narrated every detail of his civilized life to her,
omitting nothing, for he felt no shame, since his heart always
The Return of Tarzan |
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 Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw: making for good on the whole.
VIVIE [with biting irony] "A power, not ourselves, that makes for
righteousness," eh?
CROFTS [taking her seriously] Oh certainly. Not ourselves, of
course. Y o u understand what I mean. Well, now as to practical
matters. You may have an idea that Ive flung my money about; but
I havnt: I'm richer today than when I first came into the
property. Ive used my knowledge of the world to invest my money
in ways that other men have overlooked; and whatever else I may
be, I'm a safe man from the money point of view.
VIVIE. It's very kind of you to tell me all this.
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