| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Herland by Charlotte Gilman: see a man or a woman taking a dog to walk--at the end of a string."
"Have you bred them to be as neat in their habits as cats are?"
was the next question. And when Jeff told them of the effect of
dogs on sidewalk merchandise and the streets generally, they
found it hard to believe.
You see, their country was as neat as a Dutch kitchen, and as
to sanitation--but I might as well start in now with as much as
I can remember of the history of this amazing country before
further description.
And I'll summarize here a bit as to our opportunities for
learning it. I will not try to repeat the careful, detailed account
Herland |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from An Old Maid by Honore de Balzac: "In my day, young men were not so shy of looking at a pretty woman. As
for him, he drops his eyes whenever he sees you. That young man
frightens me because I am really interested in him. Tell him not to
intrigue with the Bonapartists, as he is now doing about that theatre.
When all these petty folks cease to ask for it insurrectionally,--
which to my mind is the synonym of constitutionally,--the government
will build it. Besides which, tell his mother to keep an eye on him."
"Oh, I'm sure she will prevent him from seeing those half-pay,
questionable people. I'll talk to her," said Mademoiselle Cormon, "for
he might lose his place in the mayor's office; and then what would he
and his mother have to live on? It makes me shudder."
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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 Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum: they were so friendly and sincere that he soon grew to admire them
very much, even finding some good qualities in the yellow hen. But he
became nervous again when the next visitor was announced.
"This," said Princess Ozma, "is my friend Mr. H. M. Woggle-Bug, T. E.,
who assisted me one time when I was in great distress, and is now the
Dean of the Royal College of Athletic Science."
"Ah," said the Wizard; "I'm pleased to meet so distinguished a personage."
"H. M.," said the Woggle-Bug, pompously, "means Highly Magnified; and
T. E. means Thoroughly Educated. I am, in reality, a very big bug,
and doubtless the most intelligent being in all this broad domain."
"How well you disguise it," said the Wizard. "But I don't doubt your
Dorothy and the Wizard in 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 Hellenica by Xenophon: a division not more established by human invention than preordained by
some divine naturalness or happy fortune. For, in the first place, you
have a geographical position pre-eminently adapted for naval
supremacy; most of the states to whom the sea is important are massed
round your own, and all of these are inferior to you in strength.
Besides, you have harbours and roadsteads, without which it is not
possible to turn a naval power to account. Again, you have many ships
of war. To extend your naval empire is a traditional policy; all the
arts and sciences connected with these matters you possess as home
products, and, what is more, in skill and experience of nautical
affairs you are far ahead of the rest of the world. The majority of
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