| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad: It was an infinitely miserable time. It was lucky that some
tins of fine preserves were stowed in a locker in my stateroom;
hard bread I could always get hold of; and so he lived on stewed
chicken, PATE DE FOIE GRAS, asparagus, cooked oysters, sardines--
on all sorts of abominable sham delicacies out of tins.
My early-morning coffee he always drank; and it was all I
dared do for him in that respect.
Every day there was the horrible maneuvering to go through so that my room
and then the bathroom should be done in the usual way. I came to hate
the sight of the steward, to abhor the voice of that harmless man.
I felt that it was he who would bring on the disaster of discovery.
The Secret Sharer |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Koran: them enter into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein
for aye,- God's promise in truth; and who is truer than God in speech?
Not for your vain desires, nor the vain desires of the people of the
Book. He who doeth evil shall be recompensed therewith, and shall
not find for him beside God a patron, or a help. But he who doeth good
works,- be it male or female,- and believes, they shall enter into
Paradise, and they shall not be wronged a jot.
Who has a better religion than he who resigns his face to God, and
does good, and follows the faith of Abraham, as a 'Hanif?- for God
took Abraham as a friend.
And God's is what is in the heavens and in the earth, and God
The Koran |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Prince Otto by Robert Louis Stevenson: Princess. Older than her husband, certainly uglier, and, according
to the feeble ideas common among women, in every particular less
pleasing, he has not only seized the complete command of all her
thought and action, but has imposed on her in public a humiliating
part. I do not here refer to the complete sacrifice of every rag of
her reputation; for to many women these extremities are in
themselves attractive. But there is about the court a certain lady
of a dishevelled reputation, a Countess von Rosen, wife or widow of
a cloudy count, no longer in her second youth, and already bereft of
some of her attractions, who unequivocally occupies the station of
the Baron's mistress. I had thought, at first, that she was but a
|
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 Options by O. Henry: regular army. We never called our captain anything but 'Sam' except
when there was a lot of major-generals and admirals around, so as to
preserve the discipline.
"And says Willie Robbins to me, in a sharp construction of voice much
unbecoming to his light hair and previous record:
"'You ought to be shot, Ben, for emitting any such sentiments. A man
that won't fight for his country is worse than a, horse-thief. If I
was the cap, I'd put you in the guard-house for thirty days on round
steak and tamales. War,' says Willie, 'is great and glorious. I
didn't know you were a coward.'
"'I'm not,' says I. 'If I was, I'd knock some of the pallidness off
Options |
