| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Within the Tides by Joseph Conrad: the pavements of the town, this extraordinary Renouard suddenly and
almost surreptitiously picked up a fellow - God knows who - and
sailed away with him back to Malata in a hurry; a proceeding
obviously rash and at the same time not quite straight. That was
the sort of thing. The secretly unforgiving journalist laughed a
little longer and then ceased to shake all over.
"Oh, yes. About that assistant of yours. . . ."
"What about him," said Renouard, after waiting a while, with a
shadow of uneasiness on his face.
"Have you nothing to tell me of him?"
"Nothing except. . . ." Incipient grimness vanished out of
Within the Tides |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: At length he yielded, for it seemed the only way in which
either of us might be saved from the ever-increasing numbers
of our assailants, who were still swarming upon us from all
directions across the broad valley.
"It was ever your way, John Carter, to think last of your
own life," he said; "but still more your way to command the
lives and actions of others, even to the greatest of Jeddaks
who rule upon Barsoom."
There was a grim smile upon his cruel, hard face, as he,
the greatest Jeddak of them all, turned to obey the dictates
of a creature of another world--of a man whose stature was
The Gods of Mars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson: stood ready waiting for me, and instantly slipped back his arm
under mine. There I stood some while, a little dizzy with the
unsteadiness of all around me, perhaps a little afraid, and yet
vastly pleased with these strange sights; the captain meanwhile
pointing out the strangest, and telling me their names and uses.
"But where is my uncle?" said I suddenly.
"Ay," said Hoseason, with a sudden grimness, "that's the point."
I felt I was lost. With all my strength, I plucked myself clear
of him and ran to the bulwarks. Sure enough, there was the boat
pulling for the town, with my uncle sitting in the stern. I gave
a piercing cry -- "Help, help! Murder!" -- so that both sides of
Kidnapped |
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 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: Vronsky's getting a telegram, but he said, as though anxious to
conceal something from her, that the receipt was in his study,
and he turned hurriedly to her.
"By to-morrow, without fail, I will finish it all."
"From whom is the telegram?" she asked, not hearing him.
"From Stiva," he answered reluctantly.
"Why didn't you show it to me? What secret can there be between
Stiva and me?"
Vronsky called the valet back, and told him to bring the
telegram.
"I didn't want to show it to you, because Stiva has such a
Anna Karenina |
