| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Cousin Pons by Honore de Balzac: needless to say more of him here. Suffice it to add that he had
retired from business, and as a dealer was following the example set
by Pons the amateur. Well-known valuers like Henry, Messrs. Pigeot and
Moret, Theret, Georges, and Roehn, the experts of the Musee, in fact,
were but children compared with Elie Magus. He could see a masterpiece
beneath the accumulated grime of a century; he knew all schools, and
the handwriting of all painters.
He had come to Paris from Bordeaux, and so long ago as 1835 he had
retired from business without making any change for the better in his
dress, so faithful is the race to old tradition. The persecutions of
the Middle Ages compelled them to wear rags, to snuffle and whine and
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Catherine de Medici by Honore de Balzac: balconies, the middle one more sumptuous than the other two, were
built against the terrace of the chateau of Amboise, at the foot of
which the executions were appointed to take place. Around the open
square, stagings were erected, and these were filled with an immense
crowd of people attracted by the wide-spread notoriety given to this
"act of faith." Ten thousand persons camped in the adjoining fields
the night before the day on which the horrible spectacle was appointed
to take place. The roofs on the houses were crowded with spectators,
and windows were let at ten pounds apiece,--an enormous sum in those
days. The poor old father had engaged, as we may well believe, one of
the best places from which the eye could take in the whole of 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 The Firm of Nucingen by Honore de Balzac: devotion, she seemed to be the young girl and Malvina the old mother.
Wirth followed them, carrying an umbrella.
" 'Dere are beoples whose vordune I vound it imbossible to make,' said
the Baron, addressing his companion (M. Cointet, a cabinet minister).
'Now dot de baroxysm off brincibles haf bassed off, chust reinshtate
dot boor Peautenord.'
"So Beaudenord went back to his desk, thanks to Nucingen's good
offices; and the d'Aldriggers extol Nucingen as a hero of friendship,
for he always sends the little Shepherdess of the Alps and her
daughters invitations to his balls. No creature whatsoever can be made
to understand that the Baron yonder three times did his best to
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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 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle: deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the
shoulder, and pointed over the meadows
"Look there!" said he.
A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope,
thickening mto a grove at the highest point. From amid the
branches there jutted out the gray gables and high roof-tree of a
very old mansion.
"Stoke Moran?" said he.
"Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked
the driver.
"There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes |
