| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Fables by Robert Louis Stevenson: "I am much more engaged in considering the position of the ship,"
said Mr. Spoker.
"Spoken like a good officer," replied the Captain, laying his hand
on the lieutenant's shoulder.
On deck they found the men had broken into the spirit-room, and
were fast getting drunk.
"My men," said the Captain, "there is no sense in this. The ship
is going down, you will tell me, in ten minutes: well, and what
then? To the philosophic eye, there is nothing new in our
position. All our lives long, we may have been about to break a
blood-vessel or to be struck by lightning, not merely in ten
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Albert Savarus by Honore de Balzac: mentioned again; but beyond the congratulations offered by each
newcomer to the Abbe on having gained his suit, to which no one added
any praise of the advocate, no more was said about it. Mademoiselle de
Watteville impatiently looked forward to bedtime. She had promised
herself to wake at between two and three in the morning, and to look
at Albert's dressing-room windows. When the hour came, she felt almost
pleasure in gazing at the glimmer from the lawyer's candles that shone
through the trees, now almost bare of their leaves. By the help of the
strong sight of a young girl, which curiosity seems to make longer,
she saw Albert writing, and fancied she could distinguish the color of
the furniture, which she thought was red. From the chimney above the
Albert Savarus |
