| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: one of whom wanted the dusky female.
"Come," said Tarzan, "there is but one thing to do now,
and that is to follow the trail."
As he finished speaking a tall, ungainly figure emerged
from the jungle north of the camp. He came straight toward
the four men. He was an entire stranger to all of them,
not one of whom had dreamed that another human being than
those of their own camp dwelt upon the unfriendly shores
of Jungle Island.
It was Gust. He came directly to the point.
"Your women were stolen," he said. "If you want ever
The Beasts of Tarzan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Parmenides by Plato: composition, which is not really such an artificial work as you imagine;
for what you speak of was an accident; there was no pretence of a great
purpose; nor any serious intention of deceiving the world. The truth is,
that these writings of mine were meant to protect the arguments of
Parmenides against those who make fun of him and seek to show the many
ridiculous and contradictory results which they suppose to follow from the
affirmation of the one. My answer is addressed to the partisans of the
many, whose attack I return with interest by retorting upon them that their
hypothesis of the being of many, if carried out, appears to be still more
ridiculous than the hypothesis of the being of one. Zeal for my master led
me to write the book in the days of my youth, but some one stole the copy;
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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 Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: old-fashioned exotics,--even the flora of Lyng was in the note!--
she learned that the great man had not arrived, and the day being
too rare to waste in an artificial atmosphere, she came out again
and paced slowly along the springy turf of the bowling-green to
the gardens behind the house. At their farther end rose a grass
terrace, commanding, over the fish-pond and the yew hedges, a
view of the long house-front, with its twisted chimney-stacks and
the blue shadows of its roof angles, all drenched in the pale
gold moisture of the air.
Seen thus, across the level tracery of the yews, under the
suffused, mild light, it sent her, from its open windows and
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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 Two Poets by Honore de Balzac: Lucien come in, he called out to him--
"What is the matter, sonny? Do you want me to do anything?"
"No, sir," returned the poet; "but as you are our friend, I can tell
you about it; my mother has just given her consent to my sister's
engagement to David Sechard."
For all answer, Postel shut the window with a bang, in despair that he
had not asked for Mlle. Chardon earlier.
David, however, did not go back into Angouleme; he took the road to
Marsac instead, and walked through the night the whole way to his
father's house. He went along by the side of the croft just as the sun
rose, and caught sight of the old "bear's" face under an almond-tree
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