| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Touchstone by Edith Wharton: life that beat warm in his arms. . . .
The sharp air caught him as he stepped out into it again. He
walked back and scattered the flowers over the grave. The edges
of the white petals shrivelled like burnt paper in the cold; and
as he watched them the illusion of her nearness faded, shrank back
frozen.
XII
The motive of his visit to the cemetery remained undefined save as
a final effort of escape from his wife's inexpressive acceptance
of his shame. It seemed to him that as long as he could keep
himself alive to that shame he would not wholly have succumbed to
|
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 Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: what had I to face?
He stirred beneath my trembling hands.
"Thank God!" I muttered, and I cannot deny that my joy was tainted
with selfishness. For, waking in that impenetrable darkness, and yet obsessed
with the dream I had dreamed, I had known what fear meant, at the realization
that alone, chained, I must face the dreadful Chinese doctor in the flesh.
Smith began incoherent mutterings.
"Sand-bagged!. . .Look out, Petrie!. . .He has us at last!. . .Oh, Heavens!"
. . .He struggled on to his knees, clutching at my hand.
"All right, old man," I said. "We are both alive!
So let's be thankful."
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
