| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Case of The Lamp That Went Out by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: the fingers with which she held Muller's hand tightly clasped, were
suddenly feverishly hot.
"And you - you are still the only person who knows the truth?" she
gasped in his ear.
The detective nodded. "And you thought you might silence me?" he
asked calmly. "That will not be easy - for you can imagine that I
did not come unarmed."
Adele Bernauer smiled sadly. "I would take even this way to save
Herbert Thorne from disgrace, if I thought that it could be
successful, and if I had not thought of a milder way to silence a
man who cannot be a millionaire. I have served in this house for
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from La Grenadiere by Honore de Balzac: "cherie, why are you afraid that you are going to die?"
"I am ill, my poor darling; every day I am losing strength, and there
is no cure for my illness; I know that."
"What is the matter with you?"
"Something that I ought to forget; something that you must never know.
--You must not know what caused my death."
The boy was silent for a while. He stole a glance now and again at his
mother; and she, with her eyes raised to the sky, was watching the
clouds. It was a sad, sweet moment. Louis could not believe that his
mother would die soon, but instinctively he felt trouble which he
could not guess. He respected her long musings. If he had been rather
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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 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: a fancy to AMy that she bribed her with the offer of drawing lessons
from one of the best teachers going, and for the sake of this
advantage, Amy would have served a far harder mistress. So she gave her
mornings to duty, her afternoons to pleasure, and prospered finely.
Jo meantime devoted herself to literature and Beth, who remained
delicate long after the fever was a thing of the past. Not an
invalid exactly, but never again the rosy, healthy creature she had
been, yet always hopeful, happy, and serene, and busy with the quiet
duties she loved, everyone's friend, and an angel in the house, long
before those who loved her most had learned to know it.
As long as THE SPREAD EAGLE paid her a dollar a column for her
Little Women |
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 Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "Have you the money to pay for it?" asked the Nome.
"I have one gold piece."
"Which you stole. Very good. And you're glad that you're wicked.
Better yet. I like you, young man, and I'll go to the inn with you if
you'll promise not to eat eggs for supper."
"Don't you like eggs?" asked Kiki.
"I'm afraid of 'em; they're dangerous!" said Ruggedo, with a shudder.
"All right," agreed Kiki; "I won't ask for eggs."
"Then come along," said the Nome.
When they entered the inn, the landlord scowled at Kiki and said:
"I told you I would not feed you unless you had money."
The Magic of Oz |
