| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Chouans by Honore de Balzac: approached the marquis and made a respectful circle round him. All
eyes fastened on the king's signature. The young chief, who was
standing near the chimney, suddenly threw the letters into the fire,
and they were burned in a second.
"I do not choose to command any," cried the young man, "but those who
see a king in the king, and not a prey to prey upon. You are free,
gentlemen, to leave me."
Madame du Gua, the Abbe Gudin, Major Brigaut, the Chevalier du
Vissard, the Baron du Guenic, and the Comte de Bauvan raised the cry
of "Vive le roi!" For a moment the other leaders hesitated; then,
carried away by the noble action of the marquis, they begged him to
The Chouans |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Of The Nature of Things by Lucretius: Of white ooze trickle from distended bags;
Hence the young scamper on their weakling joints
Along the tender herbs, fresh hearts afrisk
With warm new milk. Thus naught of what so seems
Perishes utterly, since Nature ever
Upbuilds one thing from other, suffering naught
To come to birth but through some other's death.
. . . . . .
And now, since I have taught that things cannot
Be born from nothing, nor the same, when born,
To nothing be recalled, doubt not my words,
Of The Nature of Things |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Pupil by Henry James: The boy noticed in an instant that he had turned red, whereupon he
turned red himself and pupil and master exchanged a longish glance
in which there was a consciousness of many more things than are
usually touched upon, even tacitly, in such a relation. It
produced for Pemberton an embarrassment; it raised in a shadowy
form a question - this was the first glimpse of it - destined to
play a singular and, as he imagined, owing to the altogether
peculiar conditions, an unprecedented part in his intercourse with
his little companion. Later, when he found himself talking with
the youngster in a way in which few youngsters could ever have been
talked with, he thought of that clumsy moment on the bench at Nice
|
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 Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas: John de Witt, indeed, had alighted from his coach with his
servant, and quietly walked across the courtyard of the
prison.
Mentioning his name to the turnkey, who however knew him, he
said, --
"Good morning, Gryphus; I am coming to take away my brother,
who, as you know, is condemned to exile, and to carry him
out of the town."
Whereupon the jailer, a sort of bear, trained to lock and
unlock the gates of the prison, had greeted him and admitted
him into the building, the doors of which were immediately
The Black Tulip |
