| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: end to the tradesmen of his district. By nine o'clock he is at the
passport office, of which he is one of the minor officials. By evening
he is at the box-office of the Theatre Italien, or of any other
theatre you like. The children are put out to nurse, and only return
to be sent to college or to boarding-school. Monsieur and Madame live
on the third floor, have but one cook, give dances in a salon twelve
foot by eight, lit by argand lamps; but they give a hundred and fifty
thousand francs to their daughter, and retire at the age of fifty, an
age when they begin to show themselves on the balcony of the opera, in
a /fiacre/ at Longchamps; or, on sunny days, in faded clothes on the
boulevards--the fruit of all this sowing. Respected by their
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
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 Tono Bungay by H. G. Wells: under-lip, electric with self-confidence. Wandering marginally
through distinguished gatherings, I would catch the
whispers: "That's Mr. Ponderevo!"
"The little man?"
"Yes, the little bounder with the glasses."
"They say he's made--"...
Or I would see him on some parterre of a platform beside my
aunt's hurraying hat, amidst titles and costumes, "holding his
end up," as he would say, subscribing heavily to obvious
charities, even at times making brief convulsive speeches in some
good cause before the most exalted audiences. "Mr. Chairman,
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