| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: I ejaculated an unrestrained "Huh!" and he must have heard me, for he went
on nervously:
"What I called up about was a pair of shoes I left there. Iwonder if
it'd be too much trouble to have the butler send them on. You
see, they're tennis shoes, and I'm sort of helpless without them. My
address is care of B. F.----"
I didn't hear the rest of the name, because I hung up the receiver.
After that I felt a certain shame for Gatsby--one gentleman to whom I
telephoned implied that he had got what he deserved. However, that was
my fault, for he was one of those who used to sneer most bitterly at
Gatsby on the courage of Gatsby's liquor, and I should have known
The Great Gatsby |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson: to want of servants.
'DEC. 5. - On Sunday I was at Isleworth, chiefly engaged in playing
with Odden. We had the most enchanting walk together through the
brickfields. It was very muddy, and, as he remarked, not fit for
Nanna, but fit for us MEN. The dreary waste of bared earth,
thatched sheds and standing water, was a paradise to him; and when
we walked up planks to deserted mixing and crushing mills, and
actually saw where the clay was stirred with long iron prongs, and
chalk or lime ground with "a tind of a mill," his expression of
contentment and triumphant heroism knew no limit to its beauty. Of
course on returning I found Mrs. Austin looking out at the door in
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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 The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum: and the more difficult it will be to restore them to their natural
forms. However, I will think it over."
Then the Wizard went to another part of the clearing and sat on a
log and appeared to be in deep thought.
The Glass Cat had been greatly interested in the Gray Ape's story and
was curious to see what the giant soldiers looked like. Hearing that
their heads extended above the tree-tops, the Glass Cat decided that
if it climbed the tall avocado tree that stood at the side of the
clearing, it might be able to see the giants' heads. So, without
mentioning her errand, the crystal creature went to the tree and, by
sticking her sharp glass claws in the bark, easily climbed the tree to
The Magic of Oz |
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 Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: same after their master. As for our mandarin with whom we
travelled, he was respected as a king, surrounded always with his
gentlemen, and attended in all his appearances with such pomp, that
I saw little of him but at a distance. I observed that there was
not a horse in his retinue but that our carrier's packhorses in
England seemed to me to look much better; though it was hard to
judge rightly, for they were so covered with equipage, mantles,
trappings, &c., that we could scarce see anything but their feet
and their heads as they went along.
I was now light-hearted, and all my late trouble and perplexity
being over, I had no anxious thoughts about me, which made this
Robinson Crusoe |
