| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac: "They are worth nine hundred and eighty-nine francs, seventy-five
centimes," said Grandet, opening the door. "To save you the pain of
selling them, I will advance the money--in /livres/."
The word /livres/ on the littoral of the Loire signifies that crown
prices of six /livres/ are to be accepted as six francs without
deduction.
"I dared not propose it to you," answered Charles; "but it was most
repugnant to me to sell my jewels to some second-hand dealer in your
own town. People should wash their dirty linen at home, as Napoleon
said. I thank you for your kindness."
Grandet scratched his ear, and there was a moment's silence.
Eugenie Grandet |
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 De Profundis by Oscar Wilde: is shown through a mist of tears, and the life of a man is no more
than the life of a flower, is there anything that, for sheer
simplicity of pathos wedded and made one with sublimity of tragic
effect, can be said to equal or even approach the last act of
Christ's passion. The little supper with his companions, one of
whom has already sold him for a price; the anguish in the quiet
moon-lit garden; the false friend coming close to him so as to
betray him with a kiss; the friend who still believed in him, and
on whom as on a rock he had hoped to build a house of refuge for
Man, denying him as the bird cried to the dawn; his own utter
loneliness, his submission, his acceptance of everything; and along
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