| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad: Nina. With a slight splash of the paddles dipped stealthily into
the water, their indistinct forms passed before her aching eyes
and vanished in the darkness of the creek.
She remained there in the cold and wet, powerless to move,
breathing painfully under the crushing weight that the mysterious
hand of Fate had laid so suddenly upon her slender shoulders, and
shivering, she felt within a burning fire, that seemed to feed
upon her very life. When the breaking day had spread a pale
golden ribbon over the black outline of the forests, she took up
her tray and departed towards the settlement, going about her
task purely from the force of habit. As she approached Sambir
Almayer's Folly |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: This was indeed a startling proposition. Cayke and her friends went
to the edge of the flat tableland and looked down the steep hillside
to the plains below. It was so far to the bottom of the hill that
nothing there could be seen very distinctly, and it seemed to the Yips
very venturesome, if not dangerous, to go so far from home into an
unknown land. However, Cayke wanted her dishpan very badly, so she
turned to her friends and asked, "Who will go with me?"
No one answered the question, but after a period of silence one of the
Yips said, "We know what is here on the top of this flat hill, and it
seems to us a very pleasant place, but what is down below we do not
know. The chances are it is not so pleasant, so we had best stay
The Lost Princess of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from From London to Land's End by Daniel Defoe: Honiton is one of those, and may pass not only for a pleasant good
town, as before, but stands in the best and pleasantest part of the
whole county, and I cannot but recommend it to any gentlemen that
travel this road, that if they please to observe the prospect for
half a mile till their coming down the hill and to the entrance
into Honiton, the view of the country is the most beautiful
landscape in the world--a mere picture--and I do not remember the
like in any one place in England. It is observable that the market
of this town was kept originally on the Sunday, till it was changed
by the direction of King John.
From Honiton the country is exceeding pleasant still, and on the
|
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 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave by Frederick Douglass: and gave him a heavy kick close under the ribs.
This kick fairly sickened Hughes, so that he left
me in the hands of Mr. Covey. This kick had the
effect of not only weakening Hughes, but Covey also.
When he saw Hughes bending over with pain, his
courage quailed. He asked me if I meant to persist
in my resistance. I told him I did, come what
might; that he had used me like a brute for six
months, and that I was determined to be used so
no longer. With that, he strove to drag me to a
stick that was lying just out of the stable door. He
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave |
