| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: impression that it is more than likely we may run foul of Venus,"
said the captain.
"Plenty of air and water there, sir?" inquired the orderly.
"Yes; as far as I can tell, plenty," replied Servadac.
"Then why shouldn't we go and visit Venus?"
Servadac did his best to explain that as the two planets were
of about equal volume, and were traveling with great velocity
in opposite directions, any collision between them must be attended
with the most disastrous consequences to one or both of them.
But Ben Zoof failed to see that, even at the worst, the catastrophe
could be much more serious than the collision of two railway trains.
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft: Thinking it selfish to dwell on her own sufferings, when in the
midst of wretches, who had not only lost all that endears life,
but their very selves, her imagination was occupied with melancholy
earnestness to trace the mazes of misery, through which so many
wretches must have passed to this gloomy receptacle of disjointed
souls, to the grand source of human corruption. Often at midnight
was she waked by the dismal shrieks of demoniac rage, or of
excruciating despair, uttered in such wild tones of indescribable
anguish as proved the total absence of reason, and roused phantoms
of horror in her mind, far more terrific than all that dreaming
superstition ever drew. Besides, there was frequently something
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Soul of a Bishop by H. G. Wells: spite of her italics. It had never dawned upon the bishop before
how light is the servitude of the disciple in comparison with the
servitude of the master. In many ways this proposal repelled and
troubled him, in many ways it attracted him. And the argument of
his clear obligation to accept her co-operation gripped him; it
was a good argument.
And besides it worked in very conveniently with certain other
difficulties that perplexed him.
(4)
The bishop became aware that Eleanor was returning to him
across the sands. She had made an end to her paddling, she had
|
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 Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac: first and flung ten francs to the man with the recklessness of a
widower returning to bachelor ways.
"Come along upstairs," he said to Rastignac. They crossed a
courtyard, and climbed up to the third floor of a new and
handsome house. There they stopped before a door; but before
Goriot could ring, it was opened by Therese, Mme. de Nucingen's
maid. Eugene found himself in a charming set of chambers; an
ante-room, a little drawing-room, a bedroom, and a study, looking
out upon a garden. The furniture and the decorations of the
little drawing-room were of the most daintily charming
description, the room was full of soft light, and Delphine rose
Father Goriot |
