| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela: ideals; our action is what men call fighting for a prin-
ciple. A principle! That's why Villa and Natera and Car-
ranza are fighting; that's why we, every man of us, are
fighting."
"Yes ... yes ... exactly what I've been thinking my-
self," said Venancio in a climax of enthusiasm.
"Hey, there, Pancracio," Macias called, "pull down
two more beers."
XIV
You ought to see how clear that fellow can make
things, Compadre," Demetrio said. All morning long he
The Underdogs |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence: with the child and was amused by its little female dauntlessness, and
got a deep voluptuous pleasure out of its soft young warmth. Young
life! And so fearless! So fearless, because so defenceless. All the
other people, so narrow with fear!
She had a cup of tea, which was rather strong, and very good bread and
butter, and bottled damsons. Mrs Flint flushed and glowed and bridled
with excitement, as if Connie were some gallant knight. And they had a
real female chat, and both of them enjoyed it.
'It's a poor little tea, though,' said Mrs Flint.
'It's much nicer than at home,' said Connie truthfully.
'Oh-h!' said Mrs Flint, not believing, of course.
Lady Chatterley's Lover |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne: fifty had been attended with remarkable disturbances, such as
cataclysms, revolutions, earthquakes, the deluge, etc. Then they
believed in some mysterious influence exercised by her over human
destinies-- that every Selenite was attached to some inhabitant
of the earth by a tie of sympathy; they maintained that the
entire vital system is subject to her control, etc. But in time
the majority renounced these vulgar errors, and espoused the true
side of the question. As for the Yankees, they had no other
ambition than to take possession of this new continent of the sky,
and to plant upon the summit of its highest elevation the star-
spangled banner of the United States of America.
From the Earth to the Moon |
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 American Notes by Rudyard Kipling: When they told me the tale I was filled with sympathy. Now I
wish that I had soft-soap and tried the experiment on some lonely
little beast far away in the woods. It sounds so probable and so
human.
Yet he would be a bold man who would administer emetics to the
Giantess. She is flat-lipped, having no mouth; she looks like a
pool, fifty feet long and thirty wide, and there is no
ornamentation about her. At irregular intervals she speaks and
sends up a volume of water over two hundred feet high to begin
with, then she is angry for a day and a half--sometimes for two
days.
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