| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Wife, et al by Anton Chekhov: than anything. All difficult questions that have more or less a
social character (for instance the migration question) they
settle by studying monographs on the subject, but not by way of
scientific investigation or experiment, though that method is at
their disposal and is more in keeping with their calling. They
gladly become ward-surgeons, assistants, demonstrators, external
teachers, and are ready to fill such posts until they are forty,
though independence, a sense of freedom and personal initiative,
are no less necessary in science than, for instance, in art or
commerce. I have pupils and listeners, but no successors and
helpers, and so I love them and am touched by them, but am not
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ann Veronica by H. G. Wells: sleeve," she said, and came to his hand and kissed it.
"I say!" he cried. "Look here! Aren't you going a little too
far? This--this is degradation--making a fuss with sleeves. You
mustn't do things like that."
"Why not?"
"Free woman--and equal."
"I do it--of my own free will," said Ann Veronica, kissing his
hand again. "It's nothing to what I WILL do."
"Oh, well!" he said, a little doubtfully, "it's just a phase,"
and bent down and rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment,
with his heart beating and his nerves a-quiver. Then as she lay
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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 Case of the Golden Bullet by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: man has grown perceptibly older in this inaction. His mind is like
a high-bred horse that needs exercise to keep it in good condition."
"He hasn't grown rich at his work, either," said Horn.
"No, there's not much chance for a police detective to get rich.
I've often wondered why Muller never had the energy to set up in
business for himself. He might have won fame and fortune as a
private detective. But he's gone on plodding along as a police
subordinate, and letting the department get all the credit for his
most brilliant achievements. It's a sort of incorrigible humbleness
of nature - and then, you know, he had the misfortune to be unjustly
sentenced to a term in prison in his early youth."
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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 Land that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: alone upon the tug's deck, as I saw the stern high in air and the
bow rapidly settling for the final dive, as I saw death from
which I could not save her clutching at the skirts of the woman
I now knew all too well that I loved.
I had perhaps the fraction of a second longer to live when I
heard an angry growl behind us mingle with a cry of pain and rage
from the giant who carried me. Instantly he went backward to the
deck, and as he did so he threw his arms outwards to save himself,
freeing me. I fell heavily upon him, but was upon my feet in
the instant. As I arose, I cast a single glance at my opponent.
Never again would he menace me or another, for Nob's great jaws
The Land that Time Forgot |
