| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Persuasion by Jane Austen: that Captain Wentworth had been in Kellynch yesterday (the first time
since the accident), had brought Anne the last note, which she had
not been able to trace the exact steps of; had staid a few hours
and then returned again to Lyme, and without any present intention
of quitting it any more. He had enquired after her, she found,
particularly; had expressed his hope of Miss Elliot's not being
the worse for her exertions, and had spoken of those exertions as great.
This was handsome, and gave her more pleasure than almost anything else
could have done.
As to the sad catastrophe itself, it could be canvassed only in one style
by a couple of steady, sensible women, whose judgements had to work
Persuasion |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Pupil by Henry James: his pupil, who, visiting the Invalides and Notre Dame, the
Conciergerie and all the museums, took a hundred remunerative
rambles. They learned to know their Paris, which was useful, for
they came back another year for a longer stay, the general
character of which in Pemberton's memory to-day mixes pitiably and
confusedly with that of the first. He sees Morgan's shabby
knickerbockers - the everlasting pair that didn't match his blouse
and that as he grew longer could only grow faded. He remembers the
particular holes in his three or four pair of coloured stockings.
Morgan was dear to his mother, but he never was better dressed than
was absolutely necessary - partly, no doubt, by his own fault, for
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart: hour approaching, I hurried on with my investigations. Luckily,
the roof was flat, and I was able to go over every inch of it.
But the result was disappointing; no trap-door revealed
itself, no glass window; nothing but a couple of pipes two inches
across, and standing perhaps eighteen inches high and three feet
apart, with a cap to prevent rain from entering and raised to
permit the passage of air. I picked up a pebble from the roof
and dropped it down, listening with my ear at one of the pipes.
I could hear it strike on something with a sharp, metallic sound,
but it was impossible for me to tell how far it had gone.
I gave up finally and went down the ladder again, getting in
The Circular Staircase |
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 Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey: time he noted that she could raise her head slightly without his
help.
"You were thirsty," he said. "It's good water. I've found a fine
place. Tell me--how do you feel?"
"There's pain--here," she replied, and moved her hand to her left
side.
"Why, that's strange! Your wounds are on your right side. I
believe you're hungry. Is the pain a kind of dull ache--a
gnawing?"
"It's like--that."
"Then it's hunger." Venters laughed, and suddenly caught himself
Riders of the Purple Sage |
