| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Reign of King Edward the Third by William Shakespeare: [Enter Audley.]
Renowned Edward, give me leave, I pray,
To lead my soldiers where I may relieve
Your Grace's son, in danger to be slain.
The snares of French, like Emmets on a bank,
Muster about him; whilest he, Lion like,
Intangled in the net of their assaults,
Franticly wrends, and bites the woven toil;
But all in vain, he cannot free him self.
KING EDWARD.
Audley, content; I will not have a man,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Moon-Face and Other Stories by Jack London: burst of smoke, a terrific detonation, and where man and dog had been the
instant before there was naught to be seen but a big hole in the ground.
"Death from accident while engaged in illegal fishing." That was the verdict
of the coroner's jury; and that is why I pride myself on the neat and artistic
way in which I finished off John Claverhouse. There was no bungling, no
brutality; nothing of which to be ashamed in the whole transaction, as I am
sure you will agree. No more does his infernal laugh go echoing among the
hills, and no more does his fat moon-face rise up to vex me. My days are
peaceful now, and my night's sleep deep.
THE LEOPARD MAN'S STORY
HE had a dreamy, far-away look in his eyes, and his sad, insistent voice,
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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 Mucker by Edgar Rice Burroughs: It is a long ride from the retreat of the Pesitistas to Jose's
squalid hut, especially if one be leading an extra horse, and so
it was that darkness had fallen long before Billy arrived in
sight of Jose's. Dismounting some distance from the hut, Billy
approached cautiously, since the world is filled with dangers
for those who are beyond the law, and one may not be too
careful.
Billy could see a light showing through a small window,
and toward this he made his way. A short distance from
Jose's is another, larger structure from which the former
inhabitants had fled the wrath of Pesita. It was dark and
The Mucker |
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 Virginibus Puerisque by Robert Louis Stevenson: How strong, supple, and living the ship seems upon the
billows! With what a dip and rake she shears the flying sea!
I cannot fancy the man who saw this effect, and took it on the
wing with so much force and spirit, was what you call
commonplace in the last recesses of the heart. And yet he
thought, and was not ashamed to have it known of him, that
Ouida was better in every way than William Shakespeare. If
there were more people of his honesty, this would be about the
staple of lay criticism. It is not taste that is plentiful,
but courage that is rare. And what have we in place? How
many, who think no otherwise than the young painter, have we
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