module Hpricot::Traverse

def nodes_at(*pos)

ele.nodes_at(0, 5..6) # the current node and two others
ele.nodes_at(1, 5, 7) # gets three nodes at offsets below the current node
ele.nodes_at(-3..-1, 1..3) # gets three nodes before and three after

This method also accepts ranges and sets of numbers.

nodes_at(1). Or, to get the previous node, use nodes_at(1).
to this node. So, for example, to get the next node, you could use
Puts together an array of neighboring nodes based on their proximity 
def nodes_at(*pos)
  sib = parent.children
  i, si = 0, sib.index(self)
  pos.map! do |r|
    if r.is_a?(Range) and r.begin.is_a?(String)
      r = Range.new(parent.index(r.begin)-si, parent.index(r.end)-si, r.exclude_end?)
    end
    r
  end
  p pos
  Elements[*
    sib.select do |x|
      sel =
        case i - si when *pos
          true
        end
      i += 1
      sel
    end
  ]
end