| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: their affairs. As long as she doesn't ill-treat our boy--God
be with them.'
'That's so,' said Vasili Andreevich. 'Well, and will you be
buying a horse in spring?' he went on, changing the subject.
'Yes, I can't avoid it,' answered Nikita, turning down his
collar and leaning back towards his master.
The conversation now became interesting to him and he did not
wish to lose a word.
'The lad's growing up. He must begin to plough for himself,
but till now we've always had to hire someone,' he said.
'Well, why not have the lean-cruppered one. I won't charge
Master and Man |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Simple Soul by Gustave Flaubert: way managed to fill out the emptiness of the hours.
Each morning, out of habit, Felicite entered Virginia's room and gazed
at the walls. She missed combing her hair, lacing her shoes, tucking
her in her bed, and the bright face and little hand when they used to
go out for a walk. In order to occupy herself she tried to make lace.
But her clumsy fingers broke the threads; she had no heart for
anything, lost her sleep and "wasted away," as she put it.
In order to have some distraction, she asked leave to receive the
visits of her nephew Victor.
He would come on Sunday, after church, with ruddy cheeks and bared
chest, bringing with him the scent of the country. She would set the
A Simple Soul |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot: Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song,
Sweet Thames, run softly, for I speak not loud or long.
But at my back in a cold blast I hear
The rattle of the bones, and chuckle spread from ear to ear.
A rat crept softly through the vegetation
Dragging its slimy belly on the bank
While I was fishing in the dull canal
On a winter evening round behind the gashouse 190
Musing upon the king my brother's wreck
And on the king my father's death before him.
White bodies naked on the low damp ground
The Waste Land |
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 Baby Mine by Margaret Mayo: pushed it from him rudely.
"WE are not going," he asserted in a firm, measured voice. "_I_
am going. Where's my hat?" And again he started in search of his
absent headgear.
"Oh, Allie!" she exclaimed, and this time there was genuine alarm
in her voice, "you wouldn't leave me?"
"Wouldn't I, though?" sneered Alfred. Before he knew it, Zoie's
arms were about him--she was pleading desperately.
"Now see here, Allie, you may call me all the names you like,"
she cried with great self-abasement, "but you shan't--you SHAN'T
go away from Chicago."
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