| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: fortnight, leading me the devil of a life. As for their being
heirlooms, nothing is an heirloom that is not so mentioned in a
will or legal document, and the existence of these jewels has been
quite unknown. I assure you I have no more claim on them than your
butler, and when Miss Virginia grows up I daresay she will be
pleased to have pretty things to wear. Besides, you forget, Mr.
Otis, that you took the furniture and the ghost at a valuation, and
anything that belonged to the ghost passed at once into your
possession, as, whatever activity Sir Simon may have shown in the
corridor at night, in point of law he was really dead, and you
acquired his property by purchase.'
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ferragus by Honore de Balzac: to go, rattle down like a wager. Lots of bad blood in Parisians."
"Monsieur," said Jacquet, touching him on the arm, "the person I spoke
of is Madame Jules Desmarets, the wife of the broker of that name."
"Ah, I know!" he replied, looking at Jacquet. "Wasn't it a funeral
with thirteen mourning coaches, and only one mourner in the twelve
first? It was so droll we all noticed it--"
"Monsieur, take care, Monsieur Desmarets is with me; he might hear
you, and what you say is not seemly."
"I beg pardon, monsieur! you are quite right. Excuse me, I took you
for heirs. Monsieur," he continued, after consulting a plan of the
cemetery, "Madame Jules is in the rue Marechal Lefebre, alley No. 4,
Ferragus |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: still haunted him. For a moment I suspected that he was pulling my leg,
but a glance at him convinced me otherwise.
"After that I lived like a young rajah in all the capitals of
Europe--Paris, Venice, Rome--collecting jewels, chiefly rubies, hunting
big game, painting a little, things for myself only, and trying to
forget something very sad that had happened to me long ago."
With an effort I managed to restrain my incredulous laughter. The very
phrases were worn so threadbare that they evoked no image except that of a
turbaned "character." leaking sawdust at every pore as he pursued a
tiger through the Bois de Boulogne.
"Then came the war, old sport. It was a great relief, and I tried very
The Great Gatsby |
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 Duchesse de Langeais by Honore de Balzac: children to listen to reason----"
"But, dear aunt, it is not easy to tell M. de Montriveau the
truth to his face. He is one of Buonaparte's pupils, and he has
a position. Why, he is one of the great men of the day; he is
high up in the Guards, and very useful there. He has not a spark
of ambition. He is just the man to say, `Here is my commission,
leave me in peace,' if the King should say a word that he did not
like."
"Then, pray, what are his opinions?"
"Very unsound."
"Really," sighed the Princess, "the King is, as he always has
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