| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The American by Henry James: she said. "You have wrong ideas. It's nothing horrible.
It is only peace and safety. It is to be out of the world,
where such troubles as this come to the innocent, to the best.
And for life--that's the blessing of it! They can't begin again."
Newman dropped into a chair and sat looking at her with a long,
inarticulate murmur. That this superb woman, in whom he had
seen all human grace and household force, should turn from him
and all the brightness that he offered her--him and his future
and his fortune and his fidelity--to muffle herself in ascetic
rags and entomb herself in a cell was a confounding combination
of the inexorable and the grotesque. As the image deepened
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: entering into the life of most men, and the men know-
ing something or everything about the sea, in the way
of amusement, of travel, or of bread-winning.
We were sitting round a mahogany table that reflected
the bottle, the claret-glasses, and our faces as we leaned
on our elbows. There was a director of companies, an
accountant, a lawyer, Marlow, and myself. The direc-
tor had been a CONWAY boy, the accountant had served
four years at sea, the lawyer--a fine crusted Tory, High
Churchman, the best of old fellows, the soul of honor--
had been chief officer in the P. & O. service in the good
Youth |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: to her sister's child, and managed all the cooking
and the washing of the family. And, as is al-
ways the case, whatever there was to do, she was
expected to do it, and was, moreover, continually
scolded by all the three people in the house; her
brother-in-law used even to beat her when he was
drunk. She bore it all patiently, and as is also
always the case, the more work she had to face,
the quicker she managed to get through it. She
helped the poor, sacrificing her own wants; she
gave them her clothes, and was a ministering
The Forged Coupon |
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 A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay: vegetation. The current bore them to within a hundred yards of the
coast, when it made a sharp angle, and proceeded to skirt the length
of the land.
Gleameil jumped overboard, and began swimming to shore. Maskull
followed her example, and the raft, abandoned, was rapidly borne away
by the current. They soon touched ground, and were able to wade the
rest of the way. By the time they reached dry land, the sun had set.
Gleameil made straight for the hills; and Maskull, after casting a
single glance at the low, dim outline of the Wombflash Forest,
followed her. The cliffs were soon scrambled up. Then the ascent
was gentle and easy, while the rich, dry, brown mould was good to
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