| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum: all about to leave the room when the Tin Woodman said:
"Wait a minute," and they halted in obedience to the
command.
Chapter Eighteen
The Tin Woodman Talks to Himself
The Tin Woodman had just noticed the cupboards and was
curious to know what they contained, so he went to one
of them and opened the door. There were shelves inside,
and upon one of the shelves which was about on a level
with his tin chin the Emperor discovered a Head -- it
looked like a doll's head, only it was larger, and he
The Tin Woodman of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Sportsman by Xenophon: Pollock and a boar in his "Incidents of Foreign Sport and Travel."
There the man was mounted, but alone.
[35] Lit. "force his heavy bulk along the shaft right up to the holder
of the boar-spear."
Nay, so tremendous is the animal's power, that a property which no one
ever would suspect belongs to him. Lay a few hairs upon the tusk of a
boar just dead, and they will shrivel up instantly,[36] so hot are
they, these tusks. Nay, while the creature is living, under fierce
excitement they will be all aglow; or else how comes it that though he
fail to gore the dogs, yet at the blow the fine hairs of their coats
are singed in flecks and patches?[37]
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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 Ann Veronica by H. G. Wells: "You say you want a vote," said Mr. Manning, abruptly.
"I think I ought to have one."
"Well, I have two," said Mr. Manning--"one in Oxford University
and one in Kensington." He caught up and went on with a sort of
clumsiness: "Let me present you with them and be your voter."
There followed an instant's pause, and then Ann Veronica had
decided to misunderstand.
"I want a vote for myself," she said. "I don't see why I should
take it second-hand. Though it's very kind of you. And rather
unscrupulous. Have you ever voted, Mr. Manning? I suppose
there's a sort of place like a ticket-office. And a
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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 The Illustrious Gaudissart by Honore de Balzac: our business."
"A fine business, then!"
"Well, but listen; if you talk all the time you'll always be in the
right."
"I mean to be. Upon my word, you take things easy!"
"You don't let me finish. I have taken under my protection a
superlative idea,--a journal, a newspaper, written for children. In
our profession, when travellers have caught, let us suppose, ten
subscribers to the 'Children's Journal,' they say, 'I've got ten
Children,' just as I say when I get ten subscriptions to a newspaper
called the 'Movement,' 'I've got ten Movements.' Now don't you see?"
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