| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Enchanted Island of Yew by L. Frank Baum: time, and their sweet laughter sounded like rippling strains of
harmonious music. But the two Ki-Ki frowned angrily, and the two Ki
looked at the boy in surprise, as if wondering at his temerity.
"Who are these strangers?" asked the pretty High Ki, speaking together
as all the twins of Twi did; "and why are they not mates, but only
half of each other?"
"These questions, your Supreme Highnesses," said the blond-haired pair
of Ki-Ki, "we are unable to answer."
"Perhaps, then, the strangers can answer themselves," said the little
maids, smiling first upon the Ki-Ki and then upon the prisoners.
Prince Marvel bowed.
The Enchanted Island of Yew |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll: but simply to listen.
"At that time," he went on, "a great tidal wave of selfishness was
sweeping over human thought. Right and Wrong had somehow been
transformed into Gain and Loss, and Religion had become a sort of
commercial transaction. We may be thankful that our preachers are
beginning to take a nobler view of life."
"But is it not taught again and again in the Bible?" I ventured to ask.
"Not in the Bible as a whole," said Arthur. "In the Old Testament,
no doubt, rewards and punishments are constantly appealed to as motives
for action. That teaching is best for children, and the Israelites
seem to have been, mentally, utter children. We guide our children
Sylvie and Bruno |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: neither youth nor beauty to plead the cause of the
intended victim, or to cause the grim executioner a pang
of remorse.
When he found the old hag she was already dressed
to go upon the street, in fact he intercepted her at the
very door of the building. Still clad as he was in the
mantle and wimple of an old woman, Til did not, at
first, recognize him, and when he spoke she burst into
a nervous, cackling laugh, as one caught in the perpe-
tration of some questionable act, nor did her manner
escape the shrewd notice of the wily master of fence.
The Outlaw of Torn |
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 Symposium by Plato: apartment. All this may be told without shame to any one. But what
follows I could hardly tell you if I were sober. Yet as the proverb says,
'In vino veritas,' whether with boys, or without them (In allusion to two
proverbs.); and therefore I must speak. Nor, again, should I be justified
in concealing the lofty actions of Socrates when I come to praise him.
Moreover I have felt the serpent's sting; and he who has suffered, as they
say, is willing to tell his fellow-sufferers only, as they alone will be
likely to understand him, and will not be extreme in judging of the sayings
or doings which have been wrung from his agony. For I have been bitten by
a more than viper's tooth; I have known in my soul, or in my heart, or in
some other part, that worst of pangs, more violent in ingenuous youth than
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