| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pierrette by Honore de Balzac: "Yes," said Sylvie, "the sheets may be damp."
Adele brought one of her own night-caps when she returned with the
warming-pan, and Pierrette, who had never slept in anything but the
coarsest linen sheets, was amazed at the fineness and softness of the
cotton ones. When she was fairly in bed and tucked up, Adele, going
downstairs with Sylvie, could not refrain from saying, "All she has
isn't worth three francs, mademoiselle."
Ever since her economical regime began, Sylvie had compelled the maid
to sit in the dining-room so that one fire and one lamp could do for
all; except when Colonel Gouraud and Vinet came, on which occasions
Adele was sent to the kitchen.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Timaeus by Plato: the general name of 'sensations,' which they still retain. And they did in
fact at that time create a very great and mighty movement; uniting with the
ever-flowing stream in stirring up and violently shaking the courses of the
soul, they completely stopped the revolution of the same by their opposing
current, and hindered it from predominating and advancing; and they so
disturbed the nature of the other or diverse, that the three double
intervals (i.e. between 1, 2, 4, 8), and the three triple intervals (i.e.
between 1, 3, 9, 27), together with the mean terms and connecting links
which are expressed by the ratios of 3:2, and 4:3, and of 9:8--these,
although they cannot be wholly undone except by him who united them, were
twisted by them in all sorts of ways, and the circles were broken and
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac: columns, which are considered the thing in Paris, a typical
banker's house, decorated in the most ostentatious fashion; the
walls lined with stucco, the landings of marble mosaic. Mme. de
Nucingen was sitting in a little drawing-room; the room was
painted in the Italian fashion, and decorated like a restaurant.
The Baroness seemed depressed. The effort that she made to hide
her feelings aroused Eugene's interest; it was plain that she was
not playing a part. He had expected a little flutter of
excitement at his coming, and he found her dispirited and sad.
The disappointment piqued his vanity.
"My claim to your confidence is very small, madame," he said,
Father Goriot |
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 Glasses by Henry James: with purchasers and vendors haggard alike, in the blaze of the gas,
with hesitations. I was just about to appeal to Flora to avert
that stage of my errand when I saw that she was accompanied by a
gentleman whose identity, though more than a year had elapsed, came
back to me from the Folkestone cliff. It had been associated on
that scene with showy knickerbockers; at present it overflowed more
splendidly into a fur-trimmed overcoat. Lord Iffield's presence
made me waver an instant before crossing over, and during that
instant Flora, blank and undistinguishing, as if she too were after
all weary of alternatives, looked straight across at me. I was on
the point of raising my hat to her when I observed that her face
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