| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Stories From the Old Attic by Robert Harris: proved all the more fool for giving up the good life for a life of
hardship that was of little use to anyone. Thus, for every person
who called him The Wise One with reverence, twenty pronounced his
name with irony.
Of the stories still not erased by the hand of time, consider these
and judge the man as you will:
* * *
One day a man, clearly troubled by the cares of life, came to The
Wise One and spoke thusly:
"My son, to whom I had entrusted my farm, last week stole my best
cows, sold them in the market, and spent the money in wild 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 Letters of Two Brides by Honore de Balzac: man would have refused to send it in a letter full of flattery; but
the Saracen has fulfilled his promises. He has obeyed. It moves me to
tears.
XVII
THE SAME TO THE SAME
April 2nd.
Yesterday the weather was splendid. I dressed myself like a girl who
wants to look her best in her sweetheart's eyes. My father, yielding
to my entreaties, has given me the prettiest turnout in Paris--two
dapple-gray horses and a barouche, which is a masterpiece of elegance.
I was making a first trial of this, and peeped out like a flower from
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