| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Chita: A Memory of Last Island by Lafcadio Hearn: Gulf-shore,--the loftiest bit of land along fourteen miles of
just such marshy coast as I have spoken of. Landward, it
dominated a desolation that wearied the eye to look at, a
wilderness of reedy sloughs, patched at intervals with ranges of
bitter-weed, tufts of elbow-bushes, and broad reaches of
saw-grass, stretching away to a bluish-green line of woods that
closed the horizon, and imperfectly drained in the driest season
by a slimy little bayou that continually vomited foul water into
the sea. The point had been much discussed by geologists; it
proved a godsend to United States surveyors weary of attempting
to take observations among quagmires, moccasins, and arborescent
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dreams by Olive Schreiner: bitterly, "Oh, our Joy! our lost Joy! shall we see you no more for ever?"
The little soft and sad-eyed stranger slipped a hand into one hand of each,
and drew them closer, and Life and Love walked on with it between them.
And when Life looked down in anguish, she saw her tears reflected in its
soft eyes. And when Love, mad with pain, cried out, "I am weary, I am
weary! I can journey no further. The light is all behind, the dark is all
before," a little rosy finger pointed where the sunlight lay upon the hill-
sides. Always its large eyes were sad and thoughtful: always the little
brave mouth was smiling quietly.
When on the sharp stones Life cut her feet, he wiped the blood upon his
garments, and kissed the wounded feet with his little lips. When in the
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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 Commission in Lunacy by Honore de Balzac: singular natural product. Against the wall hung frames of artificial
flowers, and decorations in which Popinot's initials were surrounded
by hearts and everlasting flowers. Here were boxes of elaborate and
useless cabinet work; there letter-weights carved in the style of work
done by convicts in penal servitude. These masterpieces of patience,
enigmas of gratitude, and withered bouquets gave the lawyer's room the
appearance of a toyshop. The good man used these works of art as
hiding-places which he filled with bills, worn-out pens, and scraps of
paper. All these pathetic witnesses to his divine charity were thick
with dust, dingy, and faded.
Some birds, beautifully stuffed, but eaten by moth, perched in this
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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 Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie: Strychnine Hydro-clor. that is used in most medicines. That is
why the finger-marks have remained undisturbed since then."
"How did you manage to take this photograph?"
"I dropped my hat from the balcony," explained Poirot simply.
"Visitors were not permitted below at that hour, so, in spite of
my many apologies, Mademoiselle Cynthia's colleague had to go
down and fetch it for me."
"Then you knew what you were going to find?"
"No, not at all. I merely realized that it was possible, from
your story, for Monsieur Lawrence to go to the poison cupboard.
The possibility had to be confirmed, or eliminated."
The Mysterious Affair at Styles |
