| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: "I never tried," he said, tearing open the wrapper of a
newspaper.
"Well, of course," Mary persisted, "the exasperating thing is
that there's no use trying, since one can't be sure till so long
afterward."
He was unfolding the paper as if he had hardly heard her; but
after a pause, during which the sheets rustled spasmodically
between his hands, he lifted his head to say abruptly, "Have you
any idea HOW LONG?"
Mary had sunk into a low chair beside the fireplace. From her
seat she looked up, startled, at her husband's profile, which was
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Underground City by Jules Verne: let us with our picks join
our brethren of the United States through the subsoil of the
ocean! let us dig into the center of the globe if necessary,
to tear out the last scrap of coal."
"Are you joking, Mr. Starr?" asked Ford, with a pleased but
slightly suspicious look.
"I joking, old man? no! but you are so enthusiastic that you
carry me away into the regions of impossibility! Come, let us
return to the reality, which is sufficiently beautiful;
leave our picks here, where we may find them another day,
and let's take the road back to the cottage."
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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 Human Drift by Jack London: Virginia or a lean Cantonese contracting to labour on the sugar
plantations of Hawaii, in each case, gentleman and coolie, it is a
desperate attempt to get something to eat, to get more to eat than
he can get at home.
It has always been so, from the time of the first pre-human
anthropoid crossing a mountain-divide in quest of better berry-
bushes beyond, down to the latest Slovak, arriving on our shores
to-day, to go to work in the coal-mines of Pennsylvania. These
migratory movements of peoples have been called drifts, and the
word is apposite. Unplanned, blind, automatic, spurred on by the
pain of hunger, man has literally drifted his way around the
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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 Droll Stories, V. 1 by Honore de Balzac: dead body she was so charitably rubbing, she thought she saw a slight
movement in the eyes; then she put her hand upon the man's heart, and
felt it beat feebly. At length, from the warmth of the bed and of
affection, and by the temperature of old maids, which is by far more
burning then the warm blasts of African deserts, she had the delight
of bringing to life that fine handsome young fellow who by lucky
chance had been very badly hanged.
"See how my executioners serve me!" said Louis, laughing.
"Ah!" said La Beaupertuys, "you will not have him hanged again? he is
too handsome."
"The decree does not say that he shall be hanged twice, but he shall
Droll Stories, V. 1 |
