| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: years yet, with a patience and fortitude in the face of ceaseless
provocation to which insufficient justice has been done.
As the King was leaving the Assembly, a woman, embracing his knees,
gave tongue to what might well be the question of all France:
"Ah, sire, are you really sincere? Are you sure they will not
make you change your mind?"
Yet no such question was asked when a couple of days later the King,
alone and unguarded save by the representatives of the Nation, came
to Paris to complete the peacemaking, the surrender of Privilege.
The Court was filled with terror by the adventure. Were they not
the "enemy," these mutinous Parisians? And should a King go thus
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Phoenix and the Turtle by William Shakespeare: Number there in love was slain.
Hearts remote, yet not asunder;
Distance, and no space was seen
'Twixt the turtle and his queen;
But in them it were a wonder.
So between them love did shine,
That the turtle saw his right
Flaming in the phoenix' sight:
Either was the other's mine.
Property was thus appall'd,
That the self was not the same;
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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 Taras Bulba and Other Tales by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: district judges' secretaries blow their noses, with the assistance of
two fingers, he began to read:--
"From the nobleman and landed proprietor of the Mirgorod District,
Ivan Pererepenko, son of Ivan, a plaint: concerning which the
following points are to be noted:--
"1. Ivan Dovgotchkun, son of Nikifor, nobleman, known to all the world
for his godless acts, which inspire disgust, and in lawlessness exceed
all bounds, on the seventh day of July of this year 1810, inflicted
upon me a deadly insult, touching my personal honour, and likewise
tending to the humiliation and confusion of my rank and family. The
said nobleman, of repulsive aspect, has also a pugnacious disposition,
Taras Bulba and Other Tales |
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 The Iron Puddler by James J. Davis: bearer of death news to the widows and orphans of the mill town.
I felt that the Loyal Order of Moose could cope with this
problem. They elected me supreme organizer and put me in charge
of the organization work, and after several years I showed so
much zeal that the office of director general was created and I
was put in full charge.
The Order was then nineteen years old, having been founded in
St. Louis as chartered in 1888, in Louisville, Kentucky. It had
thrived for a while and then dwindled. At the time I joined there
were only two lodges surviving, with a total roll of some two
hundred and forty-six members. I set to work with great
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