The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Finished by H. Rider Haggard: having produced the Temple from an old engraving, which she
fetched and showed to us, at no greater an expense than it would
have cost to build an ordinary house.
"That is because the marble was at hand," said Anscombe.
"Quite so," she replied demurely. "Speaking in a general sense
one can do many things in life--if the marble is at hand. Only
most of us when we look for marble find sandstone or mud."
"Bravo!" said Anscombe, "I have generally lit upon the
sandstone."
"And I on the mud," she mused.
"And I on all three, for the earth contains marble and mud and
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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 Unconscious Comedians by Honore de Balzac: and cry 'Stop thief!'"
"These salons," said Leon, "are three boudoirs where the director has
collected all the inventions of modern luxury: lambrequins to the
windows, jardinieres everywhere, downy divans where each customer can
wait his turn and read the newspapers. You might suppose, when you
first go in, that five francs would be the least they'd get out of
your waistcoat pocket; but nothing is ever extracted beyond ten sous
for combing and frizzing your hair, or twenty sous for cutting and
frizzing. Elegant dressing-tables stand about among the jardinieres;
water is laid on to the washstands; enormous mirrors reproduce the
whole figure. Therefore don't look astonished. When the client (that's
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