| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Monsieur Thuran he gave up, and sat eying the corpse
hungrily as the three men, by combining their efforts,
succeeded in rolling it overboard.
All the balance of the day Wilson sat glaring at Clayton,
in his eyes the gleam of insanity. Toward evening, as the
sun was sinking into the sea, he commenced to chuckle and
mumble to himself, but his eyes never left Clayton.
After it became quite dark Clayton could still feel those terrible
eyes upon him. He dared not sleep, and yet so exhausted
was he that it was a constant fight to retain consciousness.
After what seemed an eternity of suffering his head dropped
The Return of Tarzan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Drama on the Seashore by Honore de Balzac: Cambremer to earn his bread, Pierre took him with him a-fishing; for
the poor man was now obliged to live by his daily labor. His wife was
dead of the fever, and money was owing for Perotte's nursing. The wife
of Pierre Cambremer owed about one hundred francs to divers persons
for the little girl,--linen, clothes, and what not,--and it so chanced
that she had sewed a bit of Spanish gold into her mattress for a nest-
egg toward paying off that money. It was wrapped in paper, and on the
paper was written by her: 'For Perotte.' Jacquette Brouin had had a
fine education; she could write like a clerk, and had taught her son
to write too. I can't tell you how it was that the villain scented the
gold, stole it, and went off to Croisic to enjoy himself. Pierre
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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 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: the eddies of the stream, the beating of the dragon flies'
wings, the strokes of the water spiders' legs, like oars
which had lifted their boat -- all these made audible
music. A fish slid along beneath his eyes and he heard the
rush of its body parting the water.
He had come to the surface facing down the stream; in a
moment the visible world seemed to wheel slowly round,
himself the pivotal point, and he saw the bridge, the fort,
the soldiers upon the bridge, the captain, the sergeant, the
two privates, his executioners. They were in silhouette
against the blue sky. They shouted and gesticulated,
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge |
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 Camille by Alexandre Dumas: ready to implore her forgiveness.
But my repentance was only of a moment's duration, and Olympe,
who had finally put aside all self-respect, and discovered that
by annoying Marguerite she could get from me whatever she wanted,
constantly stirred up my resentment against her, and insulted her
whenever she found an opportunity, with the cowardly persistence
of a woman licensed by the authority of a man.
At last Marguerite gave up going to balls or theatres, for fear
of meeting Olympe and me. Then direct impertinences gave way to
anonymous letters, and there was not a shameful thing which I did
not encourage my mistress to relate and which I did not myself
Camille |
