| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: on the Delaware with some other young men, he refused to row
in his turn. "I will be row'd home," says he. "We will not
row you," says I. "You must, or stay all night on the water,"
says he, "just as you please." The others said, "Let us row;
what signifies it?" But, my mind being soured with his other conduct,
I continu'd to refuse. So he swore he would make me row,
or throw me overboard; and coming along, stepping on the thwarts,
toward me, when he came up and struck at me, I clapped my hand under
his crutch, and, rising, pitched him head-foremost into the river.
I knew he was a good swimmer, and so was under little concern
about him; but before he could get round to lay hold of the boat,
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Pool in the Desert by Sara Jeanette Duncan: Indian official society withdrawn from all the world, and playing at
being a municipality on three Himalayan mountaintops. You can't
imagine its individuality, its airy, unsubstantial, superior poise.
How can I explain to you elderly gentlemen, whose faces express
daily electric communications with the Secretary of State, playing
tennis violently every single afternoon in striped flannels--writing
letters of admonition to the Amir all day long, and in the evening,
with the assistance of yellow wigs and make-up sticks from the
Calcutta hair-dresser, imagining that they produce things, poor
dears, only a LITTLE less well done than is done at the Lyceum?
Nothing is beyond them. I assure you they are contemplating at the
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: Not finding any great love in her husband, Virginie had set to work to
create it. Having by degrees learned to esteem and care for his wife,
the time that his happiness had taken to germinate was to Joseph Lebas
a guarantee of its durability. Hence, when Augustine plaintively set
forth her painful position, she had to face the deluge of commonplace
morality which the traditions of the Rue Saint-Denis furnished to her
sister.
"The mischief is done, wife," said Joseph Lebas; "we must try to give
our sister good advice." Then the clever tradesman ponderously
analyzed the resources which law and custom might offer Augustine as a
means of escape at this crisis; he ticketed every argument, so to
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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 Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac: their numbers had so dwindled that the party consisted of Mme.
Vauquer, Mme. Couture, Mlle. Victorine, Vautrin, and Father
Goriot, Rastignac watched as though in a dream how Mme. Vauquer
busied herself by collecting the bottles, and drained the
remainder of the wine out of each to fill others.
"Oh! how uproarious they are! what a thing it is to be young!"
said the widow.
These were the last words that Eugene heard and understood.
"There is no one like M. Vautrin for a bit of fun like this,"
said Sylvie. "There, just hark at Christophe, he is snoring like
a top."
Father Goriot |
