| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: sat in the entry while she was upstairs, was still his housekeeper and
charwoman, and now in addition his sick-nurse. In spite of his
feebleness, Gobseck saw his clients himself as heretofore, and
received sums of money; his affairs had been so simplified, that he
only needed to send his pensioner out now and again on an errand, and
could carry on business in his bed.
"After the treaty, by which France recognized the Haytian Republic,
Gobseck was one of the members of the commission appointed to
liquidate claims and assess repayments due by Hayti; his special
knowledge of old fortunes in San Domingo, and the planters and their
heirs and assigns to whom the indemnities were due, had led to his
Gobseck |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: power of this untried Western man to guide the country through
the coming perils.
Never over-confident of his own powers, his mind must at times
have been full of misgivings; but it was only on the night of the
election, November 6, 1860, when, sitting alone with the
operators in the little telegraph-office at Springfield, he read
the messages of Republican victory that fell from the wires until
convinced of his election, that the overwhelming, almost crushing
"weight of his coming duties and responsibilities fell upon him.
In that hour, grappling resolutely and alone with the problem
before him, he completed what was really the first act of his
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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 Village Rector by Honore de Balzac: girl had run to her master's assistance in her night-gown, with bare
feet.
While the /procureur-du-roi/, the commissary of police, and the
examining magistrate were gathering all particulars for the basis of
their action, the luckless des Vanneaulx picked up the broken pots and
calculated from their capacity the sum lost. The magistrates admitted
the correctness of their calculations and entered the sum stolen on
their records as, in all probability, a thousand gold coins to each
pot. But were these coins forty-eight or forty, twenty-four or twenty
francs in value? All expectant heirs in Limoges sympathized with the
des Vanneaulx. The Limousin imagination was greatly stirred by the
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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 The Call of the Wild by Jack London: sank down. Something wriggled under his feet. He sprang back,
bristling and snarling, fearful of the unseen and unknown. But a
friendly little yelp reassured him, and he went back to
investigate. A whiff of warm air ascended to his nostrils, and
there, curled up under the snow in a snug ball, lay Billee. He
whined placatingly, squirmed and wriggled to show his good will
and intentions, and even ventured, as a bribe for peace, to lick
Buck's face with his warm wet tongue.
Another lesson. So that was the way they did it, eh? Buck
confidently selected a spot, and with much fuss and waste effort
proceeded to dig a hole for himself. In a trice the heat from his
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