| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Cousin Betty by Honore de Balzac: "I will go to see him," said Celestine, rising.
"I positively forbid it, madame," Bianchon quietly said. "The disease
is contagious."
"But you go there, monsieur," replied the young woman. "Do you think
that a daughter's duty is less binding than a doctor's?"
"Madame, a physician knows how to protect himself against infection,
and the rashness of your devotion proves to me that you would probably
be less prudent than I."
Celestine, however, got up and went to her room, where she dressed to
go out.
"Monsieur," said Victorin to Bianchon, "have you any hope of saving
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Deserted Woman by Honore de Balzac: dainty and gracious, her every gesture now was no less severely
frigid. M. de Nueil rose to his feet, but he stood waiting. Mme. de
Beauseant flung another glance at him. "Well, why do you not go?" she
seemed to say.
There was such cutting irony in that glance that Gaston grew white as
if he were about to faint. Tears came into his eyes, but he would not
let them fall, and scorching shame and despair dried them. He looked
back at Madame de Beauseant, and a certain pride and consciousness of
his own worth was mingled with his humility; the Vicomtesse had a
right to punish him, but ought she to use her right? Then he went out.
As he crossed the ante-chamber, a clear head, and wits sharpened by
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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 The War in the Air by H. G. Wells: I want a fair and square agreement saying that's all right.
See?"
His "See?" faded into a profound silence.
The secretary sighed at last, leant back in his chair and
produced a tooth-pick, and used it, to assist his meditation on
Bert's case. "What was that name?" he asked at last, putting
away the tooth-pick; "I must write it down."
"Albert Peter Smallways," said Bert, in a mild tone.
The secretary wrote it down, after a little difficulty about the
spelling because of the different names of the letters of the
alphabet in the two languages.
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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 Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: noise. Then we carried them all together to the idol; when we came
there, we fell to work with him. First, we daubed him all over,
and his robes also, with tar, and tallow mixed with brimstone; then
we stopped his eyes and ears and mouth full of gunpowder, and
wrapped up a great piece of wildfire in his bonnet; then sticking
all the combustibles we had brought with us upon him, we looked
about to see if we could find anything else to help to burn him;
when my Scotsman remembered that by the hut, where the men were,
there lay a heap of dry forage; away he and the other Scotsman ran
and fetched their arms full of that. When we had done this, we
took all our prisoners, and brought them, having untied their feet
Robinson Crusoe |
