| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Time Machine by H. G. Wells: Friday, but on Friday, when the putting together was nearly done,
I found that one of the nickel bars was exactly one inch too
short, and this I had to get remade; so that the thing was not
complete until this morning. It was at ten o'clock to-day that
the first of all Time Machines began its career. I gave it a
last tap, tried all the screws again, put one more drop of oil on
the quartz rod, and sat myself in the saddle. I suppose a
suicide who holds a pistol to his skull feels much the same
wonder at what will come next as I felt then. I took the
starting lever in one hand and the stopping one in the other,
pressed the first, and almost immediately the second. I seemed
The Time Machine |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Master Key by L. Frank Baum: stones and pressed them together until the little instrument was
nearly round again. The dents remained, to be sure, but he hoped he
had removed the pressure upon the works.
There was just one way to discover how well he had succeeded,
so he fastened the machine to his wrist and turned the indicator
to the word "up."
Slowly he ascended, this time to a height of nearly twenty feet. Then
his progress became slower and finally ceased altogether.
"That's a little better," he thought. "Now let's see if it will
go sidewise."
He put the indicator to "north-west,"--the direction of home--and very
The Master Key |
