| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Across The Plains by Robert Louis Stevenson: innocent, cheerful, kindly like a child, constant to toil, brave to
drown, for others; in the slums of cities, moving among indifferent
millions to mechanical employments, without hope of change in the
future, with scarce a pleasure in the present, and yet true to his
virtues, honest up to his lights, kind to his neighbours, tempted
perhaps in vain by the bright gin-palace, perhaps long-suffering
with the drunken wife that ruins him; in India (a woman this time)
kneeling with broken cries and streaming tears, as she drowns her
child in the sacred river; in the brothel, the discard of society,
living mainly on strong drink, fed with affronts, a fool, a thief,
the comrade of thieves, and even here keeping the point of honour
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Case of the Registered Letter by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: breathing showed that he was mastering the physical attack which
had so shaken him at the first glimpse of hope. He opened his eyes
now and looked at Muller steadily for a moment. Then he said: "Yes,
I will tell you: my life and my work have taught me to gauge men.
I will tell you everything I know about this sad affair. I will
tell you the absolute truth, and I think you will believe me."
"I will believe you," said Muller simply.
"You know the details of the murder, of course, and why I was
arrested?"
"You were arrested because you were the last person seen in the
company of the murdered man?"
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Melmoth Reconciled by Honore de Balzac: coloring of the long oval face, indicated quite as plainly as the cut
of his clothes that the man was an Englishman, reeking of his native
isles. You had only to look at the collar of his overcoat, at the
voluminous cravat which smothered the crushed frills of a shirt front
so white that it brought out the changeless leaden hue of an impassive
face, and the thin red line of the lips that seemed made to suck the
blood of corpses; and you can guess at once at the black gaiters
buttoned up to the knee, and the half-puritanical costume of a wealthy
Englishman dressed for a walking excursion. The intolerable glitter of
the stranger's eyes produced a vivid and unpleasant impression, which
was only deepened by the rigid outlines of his features. The dried-up,
|
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 Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey: the right, and to the left a towering cliff. Lassiter pulled the
horse and kept on.
Little Fay lay in her arms with wide-open eyes--eyes which were
still shadowed by pain, but no longer fixed, glazed in terror.
The golden curls blew across Jane's lips; the little hands feebly
clasped her arm; a ghost of a troubled, trustful smile hovered
round the sweet lips. And Jane Withersteen awoke to the spirit of
a lioness.
Lassiter was leading the horse up a smooth slope toward cedar
trees of twisted and bleached appearance. Among these he halted.
"Jane, give me the girl en' get down," he said. As if it wrenched
Riders of the Purple Sage |
