| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Troll Garden and Selected Stories by Willa Cather: followed his example. The train stopped, and the crowd shuffled up
to the express car just as the door was thrown open, the spare man
in the G. A. B. suit thrusting his head forward with curiosity.
The express messenger appeared in the doorway, accompanied by a
young man in a long ulster and traveling cap.
"Are Mr. Merrick's friends here?" inquired the young man.
The group on the platform swayed and shuffled uneasily.
Philip Phelps, the banker, responded with dignity: "We have come
to take charge of the body. Mr. Merrick's father is very feeble
and can't be about."
"Send the agent out here," growled the express messenger,
The Troll Garden and Selected Stories |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Woman and Labour by Olive Schreiner: great elements in human existence, from angles that are not identical.
From the moment the universal initial attraction of sex to sex becomes
incarnate in the first concrete sexual act till the developed offspring
attains maturity, no step in the reproductive journey, or in their relation
to their offspring, has been quite identical for the man and the woman.
And this divergence of experiences in human relations must react on their
attitude towards that particular body of human concerns which directly is
connected with the sexual reproduction of the race; and, it is exactly in
these fields of human activity, where sex as sex is concerned, that woman
as woman has a part to play which she cannot resign into the hands of
others.
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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 Astoria by Washington Irving: and their cargoes to the head of the Narrows by land. Their party
was too few in number for the purpose. They were obliged,
therefore, to seek the assistance of the Cathlasco Indians, who
undertook to carry the goods on their horses. Forward then they
set, the Indians with their horses well freighted, and the first
load convoyed by Reed and five men, well armed; the gallant
Irishman striding along at the head, with his tin case of
despatches glittering on his back. In passing, however, through a
rocky and intricate defile, some of the freebooting vagrants
turned their horses up a narrow path and galloped off, carrying
with them two bales of goods, and a number of smaller articles.
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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 Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: entertainment in the house of a poor old man, where he rested
awhile during the heat of the day.
"Now this poor man's daughter, his only child, a virgin, was
sitting before the door, and, while she wrought with her hands,
with her lips she loudly sang the praises of God with
thanksgiving from the ground of her heart. The young man heard
her hymn of praise and said, `Damsel, what is thine employment?
and wherefore, poor and needy as thou art, givest thou thanks as
though for great blessings, singing praise to the Giver?' She
answered, `Knowest thou not that, as a little medicine often
times delivereth a man from great ailments, even so the giving of
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