| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Tramp Abroad by Mark Twain: apparent anomaly. I answer that I do not base my theory
upon what the boiling water does, but upon what a boiled
thermometer says. You can't go behind the thermometer.
I had a magnificent view of Monte Rosa, and apparently
all the rest of the Alpine world, from that high place.
All the circling horizon was piled high with a mighty
tumult of snowy crests. One might have imagined he
saw before him the tented camps of a beleaguering host
of Brobdingnagians.
But lonely, conspicuous, and superb, rose that wonderful
upright wedge, the Matterhorn. Its precipitous sides were
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Princess of Parms by Edgar Rice Burroughs: afterward found that only a few peaks on all Mars exceed
four thousand feet in height; the suggestion of magnitude
was merely relative.
My morning's walk had been large with importance to
me for it had resulted in a perfect understanding with Woola,
upon whom Tars Tarkas relied for my safe keeping. I now
knew that while theoretically a prisoner I was virtually free,
and I hastened to regain the city limits before the defection
of Woola could be discovered by his erstwhile masters. The
adventure decided me never again to leave the limits of my
prescribed stamping grounds until I was ready to venture forth
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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 Underdogs by Mariano Azuela: twinkled in a hollow. Camilla, standing on the beach of
washed, round stones, caught a reflection of herself in
the waters; she saw herself in her yellow blouse with the
green ribbons, her white skirt, her carefully combed hair,
her wide eyebrows and broad forehead, exactly as she
had dressed to please Luis. She burst into tears.
Among the reeds, the frogs chanted the implacable
melancholy of the hour. Perched on a dry root, a dove
wept also.
XV
That evening, there was much merrymaking at the
The Underdogs |
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 Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: both, until you get the letters; if you can't, God help us, we
must go to court and Thomas must be exposed. I'll be done with
him for one,' added the unchivalrous friend.
'There seem some elements of success,' said Gideon. 'Was Schmidt
at all known to the police?'
'We hope so,' said Michael. 'We have every ground to think so.
Mark the neighbourhood--Bayswater! Doesn't Bayswater occur to you
as very suggestive?'
For perhaps the sixth time during this remarkable interview,
Gideon wondered if he were not becoming light-headed. 'I suppose
it's just because he has been lunching,' he thought; and then
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