| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac: gown is ready, and the ball is to-morrow night! Nasie was in
despair. She wanted to borrow my forks and spoons to pawn them.
Her husband is determined that she shall go and wear the
diamonds, so as to contradict the stories that are told all over
Paris. How can she go to that heartless scoundrel and say, 'I owe
a thousand francs to my dressmaker; pay her for me!' She cannot.
I saw that myself. Delphine will be there too in a superb
toilette, and Anastasie ought not to be outshone by her younger
sister. And then--she was drowned in tears, poor girl! I felt so
humbled yesterday when I had not the twelve thousand francs, that
I would have given the rest of my miserable life to wipe out that
 Father Goriot |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Euthydemus by Plato: example, if we had a great deal of food and did not eat, or a great deal of
drink and did not drink, should we be profited?
Certainly not, he said.
Or would an artisan, who had all the implements necessary for his work, and
did not use them, be any the better for the possession of them? For
example, would a carpenter be any the better for having all his tools and
plenty of wood, if he never worked?
Certainly not, he said.
And if a person had wealth and all the goods of which we were just now
speaking, and did not use them, would he be happy because he possessed
them?
|