| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Bureaucracy by Honore de Balzac: law, Monsieur Baudoyer, a man of consummate talent and extreme
piety--'" After looking at Monsieur Gaudron, who was reflecting, he
added, "'will be very glad if he gets it.' That's not bad; it's brief
and it says the whole thing."
"But do wait, Saillard; don't you see that Monsieur l'abbe is turning
it over in his mind?" said Madame Saillard; "don't disturb him."
"'Will be very thankful if you would deign to interest yourself in his
behalf,'" resumed Gaudron. "'And in saying a word to his Excellency
you will particularly please Madame la Dauphine, by whom he has the
honor and the happiness to be protected.'"
"Ah! Monsieur Gaudron, that sentence is worth more than the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Paz by Honore de Balzac: An hour later Paz returned to the sick-room, and began anew, with
death in his heart, his care of the count. From that moment he said
nothing. He was forced to struggle with the patient, whom he managed
in a way that excited the admiration of the doctors. At all hours his
watchful eyes were like lamps always lighted. He showed no resentment
to Clementine, and listened to her thanks without accepting them; he
seemed both dumb and deaf. To himself he was saying, "She shall owe
his life to me," and he wrote the thought as it were in letters of
fire on the walls of Adam's room. On the fifteenth day Clementine was
forced to give up the nursing, lest she should utterly break down. Paz
was unwearied. At last, towards the end of August, Bianchon, the
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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 Island Nights' Entertainments by Robert Louis Stevenson: "Give me the four centimes and await me here," said the old man.
Now, when Kokua stood alone in the street, her spirit died. The
wind roared in the trees, and it seemed to her the rushing of the
flames of hell; the shadows tossed in the light of the street lamp,
and they seemed to her the snatching hands of evil ones. If she
had had the strength, she must have run away, and if she had had
the breath she must have screamed aloud; but, in truth, she could
do neither, and stood and trembled in the avenue, like an
affrighted child.
Then she saw the old man returning, and he had the bottle in his
hand.
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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 Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln: Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth
upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether
that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . .
can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place
for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live.
It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . .
we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead,
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