| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ivanhoe by Walter Scott: in defence proportioned to the fury of the
attack and replied with the discharge of their large
cross-bows, as well as with their long-bows, slings,
and other missile weapons, to the close and continued
shower of arrows; and, as the assailants were
necessarily but indifferently protected, did considerably
more damage than they received at their hand.
The whizzing of shafts and of missiles, on both
sides, was only interrupted by the shouts which
arose when either side inflicted or sustained some
notable loss.
Ivanhoe |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain: no such sums really existed in the world. He never had
supposed for a moment that so large a sum as a hun-
dred dollars was to be found in actual money in any
one's possession. If his notions of hidden treasure had
been analyzed, they would have been found to consist of
a handful of real dimes and a bushel of vague, splen-
did, ungraspable dollars.
But the incidents of his adventure grew sensibly
sharper and clearer under the attrition of thinking them
over, and so he presently found himself leaning to the
impression that the thing might not have been a dream,
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne: in debt; and there seems to be a fatality in the exchequers of some poor
princes, particularly those of our house, which no Economy can bind down in
irons: for my own part, I'm persuaded there is not any one prince,
prelate, pope, or potentate, great or small upon earth, more desirous in
his heart of keeping straight with the world than I am--or who takes more
likely means for it. I never give above half a guinea--or walk with boots-
-or cheapen tooth-picks--or lay out a shilling upon a band-box the year
round; and for the six months I'm in the country, I'm upon so small a
scale, that with all the good temper in the world, I outdo Rousseau, a bar
length--for I keep neither man or boy, or horse, or cow, or dog, or cat, or
any thing that can eat or drink, except a thin poor piece of a Vestal (to
|
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 Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson: the biggest Campbell of all (and that's the Duke) sitting cocking
on the bench. Justice, David? The same justice, by all the
world, as Glenure found awhile ago at the roadside."
This frightened me a little, I confess, and would have frightened
me more if I had known how nearly exact were Alan's predictions;
indeed it was but in one point that he exaggerated, there being
but eleven Campbells on the jury; though as the other four were
equally in the Duke's dependence, it mattered less than might
appear. Still, I cried out that he was unjust to the Duke of
Argyle, who (for all he was a Whig) was yet a wise and honest
nobleman.
Kidnapped |
