| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from An Historical Mystery by Honore de Balzac: asked of them!"
Then, reverting to the mystery of the matter, he declared that its
solution was in the hands of time, which would eventually reveal the
injustice of the charge. Once on this ground, he boldly and
ingeniously supposed himself a juror; related his deliberations with
his colleagues; imagined his distress lest, having condemned the
innocent, the error should be known too late, and drew such a picture
of his remorse, dwelling on the grave doubts which the case presented,
that he brought the jury to a condition of intense anxiety.
Juries were not in those days so blase to this sort of allocution as
they are now; Monsieur de Grandville's appeal had the power of things
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Mucker by Edgar Rice Burroughs: right now, with a life expectancy that's pretty near minus as
long as Bender Ward is on the same ship with you. Do you
understand what I mean?"
"Aw," said Billy Byrne, "I ain't afraid o' that stiff. Let him
make any funny crack at me an' I'll cave in a handful of slats
for him--the piker."
"That's all right too, Byrne," said Theriere. "Of course you
can do it if anybody can, provided you get the chance; but
Ward isn't the man to give you any chance. There may be
shooting necessary within the next day or so, and there's
nothing to prevent Ward letting you have it in the back,
The Mucker |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare: Enter Pucke.
Quin. Yes, it doth shine that night
Bot. Why then may you leaue a casement of the great
chamber window (where we play) open, and the Moone
may shine in at the casement
Quin. I, or else one must come in with a bush of thorns
and a lanthorne, and say he comes to disfigure, or to present
the person of Moone-shine. Then there is another
thing, we must haue a wall in the great Chamber; for Piramus
and Thisby (saies the story) did talke through the
chinke of a wall
A Midsummer Night's Dream |
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 Facino Cane by Honore de Balzac: communications are far more swift, I think, in blind people, because
their blindness compels them to concentrate their attention. I had not
long to wait for proof that we were in sympathy in this way. Facino
Cane left off playing, and came up to me. "Let us go out!" he said;
his tones thrilled through me like an electric shock. I gave him my
arm, and we went.
Outside in the street he said, "Will you take me back to Venice? Will
you be my guide? Will you put faith in me? You shall be richer than
ten of the richest houses in Amsterdam or London, richer than
Rothschild; in short, you shall have the fabulous wealth of the
/Arabian Nights/."
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