| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Schoolmistress and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov: down his study and remembering how, fifteen years before, he had
given a party one autumn evening. There had been many clever men
there, and there had been interesting conversations. Among other
things they had talked of capital punishment. The majority of the
guests, among whom were many journalists and intellectual men,
disapproved of the death penalty. They considered that form of
punishment out of date, immoral, and unsuitable for Christian
States. In the opinion of some of them the death penalty ought to
be replaced everywhere by imprisonment for life.
"I don't agree with you," said their host the banker. "I have not
tried either the death penalty or imprisonment for life, but if
The Schoolmistress and Other Stories |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Pool in the Desert by Sara Jeanette Duncan: has nothing to do with what we are talking about.'
'Oh, don't you, really! Hasn't she, indeed! I take it you are
trying to make me believe that compromising things are said about
Mr. Holmcroft and me at the Club. Well, I advise you to keep your
ears open a little more, and listen to the things said about you and
Madeline Anderson there. But I don't suppose you would be in such a
hurry to repeat them to HER.'
Innes turned very white, and the rigidity of his face gave place to
heavy dismay. His look was that of a man upon whom misfortune had
fallen out of a clear sky. For an instant he stared at his wife.
When he spoke his voice was altered.
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Voice of the City by O. Henry: Waldorf and a spin in his auto afterward?"
"Oh, cheese it!" said Masie, wearily. "You've
been used to swell things, I don't think. You've had
a swelled bead ever since that hose-cart driver took
you out to a chop suey joint. No, be never mentioned
the Waldorf; but there's a Fifth Avenue address on
his card, and if be buys the supper you can bet your
life there won't be no pigtail on the waiter what takes
the order."
As Carter glided away from the Biggest Store
with his mother in his electric runabout, he bit his lip
The Voice of the City |
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 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: would have taken prizes at an agricultural fair, and the perilous
pitching of her vessels would have produced seasickness in the most
nautical observer, if the utter disregard to all known rules of
shipbuilding and rigging had not convulsed him with laughter at the
first glance. Swarthy boys and dark-eyed Madonnas, staring at you
from one corner of the studio, suggested Murillo. Oily brown shadows
of faces with a lurid streak in the wrong place, meant Rembrandt.
Buxom ladies and dropiscal infants, Rubens, and Turner appeared in
tempests of blue thunder, orange lightning, brown rain, and purple
clouds, with a tomato-colored splash in the middle, which might be
the sun or a bouy, a sailor's shirt or a king's robe, as the
Little Women |
