The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Land that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: a skipper planned since his first scheme had gone wrong.
With a loud-yelled command, he leaped to the slippery deck of the
submersible, and at his heels came his hardy crew. I sprang from
the pilot-house and followed, not to be left out in the cold when
it came to strafing the boches. From the engine room companionway
came the engineer and stockers, and together we leaped after the
balance of the crew and into the hand-to-hand fight that was
covering the wet deck with red blood. Beside me came Nobs, silent
now, and grim. Germans were emerging from the open hatch to take
part in the battle on deck. At first the pistols cracked amidst
the cursing of the men and the loud commands of the commander and
 The Land that Time Forgot |
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 Unconscious Comedians by Honore de Balzac: opinions do not give talent, they always spoil what talent there is;
and the poor fellow whom you have just seen is a proof thereof. An
artist's opinion ought to be: Faith in his art, in his work; and his
only way of success is toil when nature has given him the sacred
fire."
"Let us get away," said Bixiou. "Leon is beginning to moralize."
"But that man was sincere," said Gazonal, still stupefied.
"Perfectly sincere," replied Bixiou; "as sincere as the king of
barbers just now."
"He is mad!" repeated Gazonal.
"And he is not the first man driven man by Fourier's ideas," said
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