| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lady Susan by Jane Austen: months before she discovered that her friend's manner of living did not
suit her situation or feelings, I might have believed that concern for the
loss of such a husband as Mr. Vernon, to whom her own behaviour was far
from unexceptionable, might for a time make her wish for retirement. But
I cannot forget the length of her visit to the Mainwarings, and when I
reflect on the different mode of life which she led with them from that to
which she must now submit, I can only suppose that the wish of establishing
her reputation by following though late the path of propriety, occasioned
her removal from a family where she must in reality have been particularly
happy. Your friend Mr. Smith's story, however, cannot be quite correct, as
she corresponds regularly with Mrs. Mainwaring. At any rate it must be
Lady Susan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from End of the Tether by Joseph Conrad: years. They all grew lazy out East here (Sterne was
very conscious of his own unimpaired activity); they
got slack all over. But he towered very erect on the
bridge; and quite low by his side, as you see a small
child looking over the edge of a table, the battered soft
hat and the brown face of the Serang peeped over the
white canvas screen of the rail.
No doubt the Malay was standing back, nearer to the
wheel; but the great disparity of size in close associa-
tion amused Sterne like the observation of a bizarre fact
in nature. They were as queer fish out of the sea as
End of the Tether |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Madame Firmiani by Honore de Balzac: you, I feel for money,--although I was married, without any fortune,
to a man of immense wealth. It is nothing to me whether your nephew is
rich or poor; if I have received him in my house, and do now receive
him, it is because I consider him worthy to be counted among my
friends. All my friends, monsieur, respect each other; they know that
I have not philosophy enough to admit into my house those I do not
esteem; this may argue a want of charity; but my guardian-angel has
maintained in me to this day a profound aversion for tattle, and also
for dishonesty."
Through the ring of her voice was slightly raised during the first
part of this answer, the last words were said with the ease and self-
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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 Beauty and The Beast by Bayard Taylor: conversation run in the channels already selected, and stupid
enough I found them. I was considering whether I should not give
a signal to my friend and withdraw, when the Baron stretched his
hand across the table for a bottle of Affenthaler, and I caught
sight of a massive gold ring on his middle finger. Instantly I
remembered the ring which "B. V. H." had given to Otto
Lindenschmidt, and I said to myself, "That is it!" The inference
followed like lightning that it was "Johann Helm" who sat beside
me, and not a Baron von Herisau!
That evening my friend and I had a long, absorbing conversation in
my room. I told him the whole story, which came back vividly to
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