| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: other hemisphere, through which the youngsters will go out, is less
well fortified: its only wrapper is the texture spun over the eggs
immediately after they were laid.
Inside, there is nothing but the eggs: no mattress, no soft
eiderdown, like that of the Epeirae. The Lycosa, indeed, has no
need to guard her eggs against the inclemencies of the winter, for
the hatching will take place long before the cold weather comes.
Similarly, the Thomisus, with her early brood, takes good care not
to incur useless expenditure: she gives her eggs, for their
protection, a simple purse of satin.
The work of spinning, followed by that of tearing, is continued for
The Life of the Spider |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: glad to die; Fyokla, on the other hand, found all this life to
her taste: the poverty, the uncleanliness, and the incessant
quarrelling. She ate what was given her without discrimination;
slept anywhere, on whatever came to hand. She would empty the
slops just at the porch, would splash them out from the doorway,
and then walk barefoot through the puddle. And from the very
first day she took a dislike to Olga and Nikolay just because
they did not like this life.
"We shall see what you'll find to eat here, you Moscow gentry!"
she said malignantly. "We shall see!"
One morning, it was at the beginning of September, Fyokla,
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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 Fisherman's Luck by Henry van Dyke: before the great open fire in the hall of the hotel, she was heard
to use this information with considerable skill in putting down Mrs.
Minot Peabody of Boston, who was recounting the details of her
husband's catch at Spencer Pond. Cornelia was not a person to be
contented with the back seat, even in fish-stories.
When Beekman observed these indications he was much encouraged, and
resolved to push his educational experiment briskly forward to his
customary goal of success.
"Some things can be done, as well as others," he said in his
masterful way, as three of us were walking home together after the
autumnal dinner of the Petrine Club, which he always attended as a
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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 Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: before reaching Bombay, and was obliged to remain four hours at
Steamer Point to coal up. But this delay, as it was foreseen,
did not affect Phileas Fogg's programme; besides, the Mongolia,
instead of reaching Aden on the morning of the 15th, when she was due,
arrived there on the evening of the 14th, a gain of fifteen hours.
Mr. Fogg and his servant went ashore at Aden to have the passport
again visaed; Fix, unobserved, followed them. The visa procured,
Mr. Fogg returned on board to resume his former habits; while Passepartout,
according to custom, sauntered about among the mixed population of Somanlis,
Banyans, Parsees, Jews, Arabs, and Europeans who comprise the twenty-five
thousand inhabitants of Aden. He gazed with wonder upon the fortifications
Around the World in 80 Days |
