| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: of the windows as the crowd of boys passed beneath.
"Blunt and Falworth are going to fight it out hand to hand in the
armory," answered one of the bachelors, looking up.
The brawling of the squires was a jest to all the adjoining part
of the house. So the heads were withdrawn again, some laughing at
the "sparring of the cockerels."
But it was no jesting matter to poor Myles.
CHAPTER 16
I have no intention to describe the fight between Myles Falworth
and Walter Blunt. Fisticuffs of nowadays are brutal and debasing
enough, but a fight with a sharp-edged broadsword was not only
Men of Iron |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Adam Bede by George Eliot: cows were being driven into the yard for their afternoon milking.
No wonder the patient beasts ran confusedly into the wrong places,
for the alarming din of the bull-dog was mingled with more distant
sounds which the timid feminine creatures, with pardonable
superstition, imagined also to have some relation to their own
movements--with the tremendous crack of the waggoner's whip, the
roar of his voice, and the booming thunder of the waggon, as it
left the rick-yard empty of its golden load.
The milking of the cows was a sight Mrs. Poyser loved, and at this
hour on mild days she was usually standing at the house door, with
her knitting in her hands, in quiet contemplation, only heightened
Adam Bede |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Kidnapped Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: man to his castle, and there left him to talk over the events of the
night with his little assistants.
Wisk had already rendered himself invisible and flown through the big
world to see how the children were getting along on this bright
Christmas morning; and by the time he returned, Peter had finished
telling Santa Claus of how they had distributed the toys.
"We really did very well," cried the fairy, in a pleased voice; "for I
found little unhappiness among the children this morning. Still, you
must not get captured again, my dear master; for we might not be so
fortunate another time in carrying out your ideas."
He then related the mistakes that had been made, and which he had not
A Kidnapped Santa Claus |
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 Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: play at modesty, and in reality are led by some old woman or an evil
courtesan. They are all equally eaten to the bone with calculation,
with depravity, with a brutal lust to succeed, and if you plumbed for
their hearts you would find in all a stone. In their normal state they
have the prettiest exterior, stake their friendship at every turn, are
captivating alike. The same badinage dominates their ever-changing
jargon; they seek for oddity in their toilette, glory in repeating the
stupidities of such and such actor who is in fashion, and commence
operations, it matters not with whom, with contempt and impertinence,
in order to have, as it were, the first move in the game; but, woe
betide him who does not know how to take a blow on one cheek for the
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
