| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Animal Farm by George Orwell: upon them to confess their crimes. They were the same four pigs as had
protested when Napoleon abolished the Sunday Meetings. Without any further
prompting they confessed that they had been secretly in touch with
Snowball ever since his expulsion, that they had collaborated with him in
destroying the windmill, and that they had entered into an agreement with
him to hand over Animal Farm to Mr. Frederick. They added that Snowball
had privately admitted to them that he had been Jones's secret agent for
years past. When they had finished their confession, the dogs promptly
tore their throats out, and in a terrible voice Napoleon demanded whether
any other animal had anything to confess.
The three hens who had been the ringleaders in the attempted rebellion
Animal Farm |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: in the close association in which two persons, equal counterparts,
find themselves, you will have great indulgence for sorrows to which
the world is pitiless. Well, Lady Dudley gratified the instincts,
organs, appetites, the vices and virtues of the subtile matter of
which we are made; she was the mistress of the body; Madame de
Mortsauf was the wife of the soul. The love which the mistress
satisfies has its limits; matter is finite, its inherent qualities
have an ascertained force, it is capable of saturation; often I felt a
void even in Paris, near Lady Dudley. Infinitude is the region of the
heart, love had no limits at Clochegourde. I loved Lady Dudley
passionately; and certainly, though the animal in her was magnificent,
The Lily of the Valley |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln: we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead,
who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power
to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember,
what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished
work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining
before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion
to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . .
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . .
that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . .
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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 Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum: natural for a hungry beast to wish his breakfast, I
will try to give you one."
"Thank you," replied the Jaguar. "You're rather small
for a full meal, but it's kind of you to sacrifice
yourself to my appetite."
"Oh, I don't intend to be eaten, I assure you," said
the Canary, "but as I am a fairy I know something of
magic, and though I am now transformed into a bird's
shape, I am sure I can conjure up a breakfast that will
satisfy you."
"If you can work magic, why don't you break the
The Tin Woodman of Oz |
