| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: possession of his senses. At the time of the encounter we must have been
some considerable distance from shore, and the fog was impenetrable."
"But how do you account for the fact that neither of the bodies
have been recovered?"
"Ryman of the river police tells me that persons lost at that point
are not always recovered--or not until a considerable time later."
There was a faint sound from the room above. The news of that
tragic happening out in the mist upon the Thames had prostrated
poor Mrs. Weymouth.
"She hasn't been told half the truth," said her brother-in-law. "She doesn't
know about--the poisoned needle. What kind of fiend was this Dr. Fu-Manchu?"
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Extracts From Adam's Diary by Mark Twain: thing, she says it is ordered that we work for our living hereafter.
She will be useful. I will superintend.
Ten Days Later
She accuses me of being the cause of our disaster! She says, with
apparent sincerity and truth, that the Serpent assured her that
the forbidden fruit was not apples, it was chestnuts. I said I
was innocent, then, for I had not eaten any chestnuts. She said
the Serpent informed her that "chestnut" was a figurative term
meaning an aged and mouldy joke. I turned pale at that, for I
have made many jokes to pass the weary time, and some of them could
have been of that sort, though I had honestly supposed that they
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Memorabilia by Xenophon: you for coming to look at me."
At this point, seeing that the lady herself was expensively attired,
and that she had with her her mother also, whose dress and style of
attendance[3] were out of the common, not to speak of the waiting-
women--many and fair to look upon, who presented anything but a
forlorn appearance; while in every respect the whole house itself was
sumptuously furnished--Socrates put a question:
[3] Or, "her mother there with her in a dress and general get-up
({therapeia}) which was out of the common." See Becker,
"Charicles," p. 247 (Eng. tr.)
Pray tell me, Theodote, have you an estate in the country?
The Memorabilia |
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 Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift: private person." He asked me, "who were our creditors; and where
we found money to pay them?" He wondered to hear me talk of such
chargeable and expensive wars; "that certainly we must be a
quarrelsome people, or live among very bad neighbours, and that
our generals must needs be richer than our kings." He asked,
what business we had out of our own islands, unless upon the
score of trade, or treaty, or to defend the coasts with our
fleet?" Above all, he was amazed to hear me talk of a mercenary
standing army, in the midst of peace, and among a free people.
He said, "if we were governed by our own consent, in the persons
of our representatives, he could not imagine of whom we were
Gulliver's Travels |
