| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Fisherman's Luck by Henry van Dyke: their commercial enterprise and its gross equipage, but of ice-
fishing in its more sportive and desultory form, as it is pursued by
country boys and the incorrigible village idler.
You choose for this pastime a pond where the ice is not too thick,
lest the labour of cutting through should be discouraging; nor too
thin, lest the chance of breaking in should be embarrassing. You
then chop out, with almost any kind of a hatchet or pick, a number
of holes in the ice, making each one six or eight inches in
diameter, and placing them about five or six feet apart. If you
happen to know the course of a current flowing through the pond, or
the location of a shoal frequented by minnows, you will do well to
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: James accepted this tribute of gratitude,
and qualified his conscience for accepting it too,
by saying with perfect sincerity, "Indeed, Catherine,
I love you dearly."
Inquiries and communications concerning brothers
and sisters, the situation of some, the growth of the rest,
and other family matters now passed between them, and continued,
with only one small digression on James's part, in praise
of Miss Thorpe, till they reached Pulteney Street, where he
was welcomed with great kindness by Mr. and Mrs. Allen,
invited by the former to dine with them, and summoned by
Northanger Abbey |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde: "Any place you love is the world to you," exclaimed a pensive
Catherine Wheel, who had been attached to an old deal box in early
life, and prided herself on her broken heart; "but love is not
fashionable any more, the poets have killed it. They wrote so much
about it that nobody believed them, and I am not surprised. True
love suffers, and is silent. I remember myself once - But it is
no matter now. Romance is a thing of the past."
"Nonsense!" said the Roman Candle, "Romance never dies. It is like
the moon, and lives for ever. The bride and bridegroom, for
instance, love each other very dearly. I heard all about them this
morning from a brown-paper cartridge, who happened to be staying in
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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 Options by O. Henry: circumference men rode in to Paloma to win her smiles. They got them.
One meal--one smile--one dollar. But, with all her impartiality,
Ileen seemed to favor three of her admirers above the rest. According
to the rules of politeness, I will mention myself last.
The first was an artificial product known as Bryan Jacks--a name that
had obviously met with reverses. Jacks was the outcome of paved
cities. He was a small man made of some material resembling flexible
sandstone. His hair was the color of a brick Quaker meeting-house;
his eyes were twin cranberries; his mouth was like the aperture under
a drop-letters-here sign.
He knew every city from Bangor to San Francisco, thence north to
Options |
