Today's Stichomancy for V. I. Lenin

The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne:

"Yes; I wish it settled finally. Speak for me, in my name only, if you like."

"But I so seldom meet him. He avoids me."

"That is all the more reason for you to go to see him."

I went to my room. From thence I meant to go to Captain Nemo's. It would not do to let this opportunity of meeting him slip. I knocked at the door. No answer. I knocked again, then turned the handle. The door opened, I went in. The Captain was there. Bending over his work-table, he had not heard me. Resolved not to go without having spoken, I approached him. He raised his head quickly, frowned, and said roughly, "You here!

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Confessio Amantis by John Gower:

And in contraire also recovere 2400 A povere man to gret richesse Men sen: forthi let rihtwisnesse Be peised evene in the balance. The king his hardi contienance Behield, and herde hise wordes wise, And seide unto him in this wise: "Thin ansuere I have understonde, Wherof my will is, that thou stonde In mi service and stille abide." And forth withal the same tide 2410

Confessio Amantis

The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Reminiscences of Tolstoy by Leo Tolstoy:

verses for the letter-box, I was so shy when they were read that I hid under the table, and sat there the whole evening until I was pulled out by force. For a long time after, I wrote no more, and was always fonder of hearing other people's compositions read than my own. All the events of our life at Yásnaya Polyána found their echo in one way or another in the letter-box, and no one was spared, not even the grown-ups. All our secrets, all our love-affairs, all the incidents of our complicated life were revealed in the letter-box, and both household and visitors were good-humoredly made fun of.

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 Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain:

of his anatomy from head to foot, and ended by saying that such a laugh was money in a-man's pocket, be- cause it cut down the doctor's bill like everything. Then he added:

"Poor old chap, you're white and jaded -- you ain't well a bit -- no wonder you're a little flighty and off your balance. But you'll come out of it. Rest and sleep will fetch you out all right, I hope."

Huck was irritated to think he had been such a goose and betrayed such a suspicious excitement, for he had dropped the idea that the parcel brought from

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer