| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: very sad."
"And does she give a reason?"
"Yes, madame--that is to say, a reason of a certain sort; she
declares that she is not quite ready; he must wait until the rose-
tree adorns itself again."
"And what is the end--do they get married at last?"
"But I do not know, madame. The chanson does not go so far. It
ceases with the complaint of the young man. And it is a very
uncertain affair--this affair of the heart--is it not?"
Then, as if he turned from such perplexing mysteries to something
plain and sure and easy to understand, he breaks out into the
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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 Atheist's Mass by Honore de Balzac: all our goods; if you like, we will try to find lodgings
together, since we are both turned out of this. It is not the
earthly paradise, when all is said and done.'
" 'I know that, my good Bourgeat,' said I. 'But I am in a great
fix. I have a trunk downstairs with a hundred francs' worth of
linen in it, out of which I could pay the landlord and all I owe
to the porter, and I have not a hundred sous.'
" 'Pooh! I have a few dibs,' replied Bourgeat joyfully, and he
pulled out a greasy old leather purse. 'Keep your linen.'
"Bourgeat paid up my arrears and his own, and settled with the
porter. Then he put our furniture and my box of linen in his
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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 The Market-Place by Harold Frederic: were talking about?"
"Talking about?" she queried, with a momentarily
blank countenance. "Oh, she used to bully me about
my deceit, and treachery, and similar crimes. But I shall
be immensely glad to see her. I always fight with her,
but I think I like her better than any other woman alive."
"I like her too," Thorpe was impelled to say, with a kind
of solemnity. "She reminds me of some of the happiest
hours in my life."
His wife, after a brief glance into his face, laughed pleasantly,
if with a trace of flippancy. "You say nice things,"
The Market-Place |
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 Stories From the Old Attic by Robert Harris: forced, but no one noticed because Jennifrella was now bawling so
spectacularly that the crowd, though not at all wishing to be unkind,
found it, frankly, entertaining.
As it does for us all, time passed and life went on.
After a peculiar three years' delay, Lucinda finally made her choice
from among several good offers and moved with her new husband to a
remote part of the kingdom where it was reported that she was content,
though some said that the cooler climate had somewhat subdued her
well-known effervescence.
In the fullness of time, Sir Philo exchanged his sword for a crown
and ascended the throne. He ruled wisely and justly, and the kingdom
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