| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories by Mark Twain: thinkings and strugglings. He left me, but I didn't know.
Presently he was back, with the picture case in his hand, and he
held it open before me and said:
"There, now, tell her to her face you could have stayed to see her,
and you wouldn't."
That second glimpse broke down my good resolution. I would stay
and take the risk. That night we smoked the tranquil pipe,
and talked till late about various things, but mainly about her;
and certainly I had had no such pleasant and restful time for many
a day. The Thursday followed and slipped comfortably away.
Toward twilight a big miner from three miles away came--one of
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: even postpone the question of freedom to the question of
free trade, and quietly read the prices-current along with
the latest advices from Mexico, after dinner, and, it may
be, fall asleep over them both. What is the price-current
of an honest man and patriot today? They hesitate, and they
regret, and sometimes they petition; but they do nothing in
earnest and with effect. They will wait, well disposed, for
other to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to
regret. At most, they give up only a cheap vote, and a
feeble countenance and Godspeed, to the right, as it goes by
them. There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Market-Place by Harold Frederic: he said. "My mother hates Scotland. She doesn't
go about, either, even in England. But I daresay Winnie
would enjoy it immensely. She has a great opinion of you,
you know."
"I only saw her that once," Thorpe remarked.
Some thought behind his words lent a musing effect
to the tone in which they were uttered. The brother's
contemplative smile seemed a comment upon this tone.
"Women are curious creatures," he said. "They take fancies
and dislikes as swiftly and irresponsibly as cloud-shadows
shift and change on a mountain-side in April. But I
The Market-Place |
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 Ballads by Robert Louis Stevenson: brave; the javelin, or casting spear, was the other.
Note 9, "THE RIBBON OF LIGHT." Still to be seen (and heard)
spinning from one marae to another on Tahiti; or so I have it
upon evidence that would rejoice the Psychical Society.
Note 10, "NAMUNU-URA." The complete name is Namunu-ura te
aropa. Why it should be pronounced Namunu, dactyllically, I
cannot see, but so I have always heard it. This was the clan
immediately beyond the Tevas on the south coast of the
island. At the date of the tale the clan organisation must
have been very weak. There is no particular mention of
Tamatea's mother going to Papara, to the head chief of her
Ballads |
