| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum: there by mistake."
"Oh! Where DO you want to go, then?"
"I'm not particular, miss."
This answer astonished the little girl; and it made her provoked, too,
to think she had taken all this trouble for nothing.
"There are a good many roads here," observed the shaggy man, turning
slowly around, like a human windmill. "Seems to me a person could go
'most anywhere, from this place."
Dorothy turned around too, and gazed in surprise. There WERE a
good many roads; more than she had ever seen before. She tried to
count them, knowing there ought to be five, but when she had counted
The Road to Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Cromwell by William Shakespeare: LIEUTENANT.
Alas, my Lord, would I might never see it.
Here are the Dukes of Suffolk and of Norfolk,
Winchester, Bedford, and sir Richard Ratcliffe,
With others, but why they come I know not.
CROMWELL.
No matter wherefore, Cromwell is prepared;
For Gardiner has my state and life ensnared.
Bid them come in, or you shall do them wrong,
For here stands he, whom some thinks lives too long.
Learning kills learning, and instead of Ink
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The American by Henry James: some shrubbery, in such a way as not to be noticeable at a distance;
but M. de Bellegarde had evidently already perceived him.
His mother and he were holding their course, but Newman
stepped in front of them, and they were obliged to pause.
He lifted his hat slightly, and looked at them for a moment;
they were pale with amazement and disgust.
"Excuse me for stopping you," he said in a low tone, "but I
must profit by the occasion. I have ten words to say to you.
Will you listen to them?"
The marquis glared at him and then turned to his mother.
"Can Mr. Newman possibly have anything to say that is worth
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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 From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne: ever did exist, it must have been absorbed by the earth; but I
prefer to bring forward indisputable facts."
"Bring them forward then, sir, as many as you please."
"You know," said the stranger, "that when any luminous rays
cross a medium such as the air, they are deflected out of the
straight line; in other words, they undergo refraction. Well!
When stars are occulted by the moon, their rays, on grazing the
edge of her disc, exhibit not the least deviation, nor offer the
slightest indication of refraction. It follows, therefore, that
the moon cannot be surrounded by an atmosphere.
"In point of fact," replied Ardan, "this is your chief, if not
From the Earth to the Moon |
