| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: funeral took place the next day, and after it the guests and the
priests ate a great deal, and with such greed that one might have
thought that they had not tasted food for a long time. Lipa
waited at table, and the priest, lifting his fork on which there
was a salted mushroom, said to her:
"Don't grieve for the babe. For of such is the kingdom of
heaven."
And only when they had all separated Lipa realized fully that
there was no Nikifor and never would be, she realized it and
broke into sobs. And she did not know what room to go into to
sob, for she felt that now that her child was dead there was no
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas: Planchet, and Grimaud.
On arriving in Paris, D'Artagnan found a letter from M. de
Treville, which informed him that, at his request, the king had
promised that he should enter the company of the Musketeers.
As this was the height of D'Artagnan's worldly ambition--apart,
be it well understood, from his desire of finding Mme.
Bonacieux--he ran, full of joy, to seek his comrades, whom he had
left only half an hour before, but whom he found very sad and
deeply preoccupied. They were assembled in council at the
residence of Athos, which always indicated an event of some
gravity. M. de Treville had intimated to them his Majesty's
The Three Musketeers |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The White Moll by Frank L. Packard: not frankly admit to her own soul, already in the secret, that she
cared in spite of herself - for a thief? Why not admit that a great
hurt had come, one that no one but herself would ever know, a hurt
that would last for always because it was a wound that could never
be healed?
A thief! She loved a thief. She had fought a bitter, stubborn
battle with her common sense to convince herself that he was not
a thief. She had snatched hungrily at the incident that centered
around those handcuffs, so opportunely produced from the Adventurer's
pocket. She had tried to argue that those handcuffs not only
suggested, but proved, he was a police officer in disguise, working
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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 The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad: Under any other circumstances I would not have held on a minute longer.
The second mate had followed me anxiously.
I looked on till I felt I could command my voice.
"She will weather," I said then in a quiet tone.
"Are you going to try that, sir?" he stammered out incredulously.
I took no notice of him and raised my tone just enough to be heard
by the helmsman.
"Keep her good full."
"Good full, sir."
The wind fanned my cheek, the sails slept, the world was silent.
The strain of watching the dark loom of the land grow bigger and denser
The Secret Sharer |
