| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: to advance only one hundred pounds currency, which had been paid;
and a hundred more was due to the merchant, who grew impatient,
and su'd us all. We gave bail, but saw that, if the money could
not be rais'd in time, the suit must soon come to a judgment
and execution, and our hopeful prospects must, with us, be ruined,
as the press and letters must be sold for payment, perhaps at
half price.
In this distress two true friends, whose kindness I have never forgotten,
nor ever shall forget while I can remember any thing, came to
me separately, unknown to each other, and, without any application
from me, offering each of them to advance me all the money that should
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Aesop's Fables by Aesop: son trudge along."
Well, the Man didn't know what to do, but at last he took his
Boy up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to
the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The
Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said:
"Aren't you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey
of yoursu and your hulking son?"
The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They
thought and they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied
the donkey's feet to it, and raised the pole and the donkey to
their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met
Aesop's Fables |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: himself upon them by some artifice later; accordingly, he signed to
his soldiers and slowly withdrew. Then, turning in the gateway towards
the Mercenaries, he cried to them that they would repent of it.
The feast recommenced. But Gisco might return, and by surrounding the
suburb, which was beside the last ramparts, might crush them against
the walls. Then they felt themselves alone in spite of their crowd,
and the great town sleeping beneath them in the shade suddenly made
them afraid, with its piles of staircases, its lofty black houses, and
its vague gods fiercer even than its people. In the distance a few
ships'-lanterns were gliding across the harbour, and there were lights
in the temple of Khamon. They thought of Hamilcar. Where was he? Why
Salammbo |
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 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: he is dying, and you come and bleed him and patch him up. He will drag
about as a cripple, a burden to everybody, for another ten years. It
would be far easier and simpler for him to die. Others are being
born and there are plenty of them as it is. It would be different if
you grudged losing a laborer- that's how I regard him- but you want to
cure him from love of him. And he does not want that. And besides,
what a notion that medicine ever cured anyone! Killed them, yes!" said
he, frowning angrily and turning away from Pierre.
Prince Andrew expressed his ideas so clearly and distinctly that
it was evident he had reflected on this subject more than once, and he
spoke readily and rapidly like a man who has not talked for a long
War and Peace |
