| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Edgar Rice Burroughs: performed? It was not bound! Stealthily and noiselessly
she moved her other limbs, only to discover that she
was free. She could not know how the thing had
happened, that Taglat, gnawing upon them for sinister
purposes of his own, had cut them through but an
instant before Numa had frightened him from his victim.
For a moment Jane Clayton was overwhelmed with joy and
thanksgiving; but only for a moment. What good was her
new-found liberty in the face of the frightful beast
crouching so close beside her? If she could have had
this chance under different conditions, how happily she
Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: "Yes, I did."
"Couldn't you learn to read?"
"No."
"Where does that path lead?"
The boy told him, and Volgin went on to-
wards the house, thinking how he would chaff
Nicholas Petrovich about the deplorable condi-
tion of the village schools in spite of all his ef-
forts.
On approaching the house Volgin looked at his
watch, and saw that it was already past eleven.
The Forged Coupon |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Nana, Miller's Daughter, Captain Burle, Death of Olivier Becaille by Emile Zola: notwithstanding, for she was waiting for her cue.
"The third act is the shortest, I believe," the prince began saying,
for the count's presence embarrassed him.
She did not answer; her whole expression altered; she was suddenly
intent on her business. With a rapid movement of the shoulders she
had let her furs slip from her, and Mme Jules, standing behind, had
caught them in her arms. And then after passing her two hands to
her hair as though to make it fast, she went on the stage in all her
nudity.
"Hush, hush!" whispered Bordenave.
The count and the prince had been taken by surprise. There was
|
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 Symposium by Xenophon: [64] See Athen. "Deipnos." i. 28.
And here's a point worth noting. Wealth of my sort will make you
liberal of soul. Look at Socrates; from him it was I got these riches.
He did not supply me with it by weight or by measure, but just as much
as I could carry, he with bounteous hand consigned to me. And I, too,
grudge it to no man now. To all my friends without distinction I am
ready to display my opulence: come one, come all; and whosoever likes
to take a share is welcome to the wealth that lies within my soul.
Yes, and moreover, that most luxurious of possessions,[65] unbroken
leisure, you can see, is mine, which leaves me free to contemplate
things worthy of contemplation,[66] and to drink in with my ears all
The Symposium |
