| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Beauty and The Beast by Bayard Taylor: the wooing of the daughter had already become so marked as to be a
general subject of gossip. My friend was inclined to think my
conjecture correct, and willingly co-operated with me in a plan to
test the matter. We had no considerable sympathy with the snobbish
parents, whose servility to a title was so apparent; but the
daughter seemed to be an innocent and amiable creature, however
silly, and we determined to spare her the shame of an open scandal.
If our scheme should seem a little melodramatic, it must not be
forgotten that my friend was an author. The next morning, as the
Baron came up the terrace after his visit to the spring, I stepped
forward and greeted him politely, after which I said: "I see by
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: recalling her father, a likeness Levin often noticed with
pleasure.
"How doesn't bite?"
"I'll show you," she said, taking her husband's hand, lifting it
to her mouth, and just faintly brushing it with closed lips.
"Like a kiss on a priest's hand."
"Which didn't it bite with?" he said, laughing.
"Both. But it should have been like this . . ."
"There are some peasants coming . . ."
"Oh, they didn't see."
Chapter 6
Anna Karenina |
