| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Illustrious Gaudissart by Honore de Balzac: and Madame Vernier played their part so well that Gaudissart had no
suspicions, and straightway fell into the trap. He gallantly offered
his arm to Madame Vernier, and believed that he made, as they went
along, the conquest of both ladies, for those benefit he sparkled with
wit and humor and undetected puns.
The house of the pretended banker stood at the entrance to the Valley
Coquette. The place, called La Fuye, had nothing remarkable about it.
On the ground floor was a large wainscoted salon, on either side of
which opened the bedroom of the good-man and that of his wife. The
salon was entered from an ante-chamber, which served as the dining-
room and communicated with the kitchen. This lower door, which was
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Love Songs by Sara Teasdale: Eternity was made for them,
To-night for us.
Ebb Tide
When the long day goes by
And I do not see your face,
The old wild, restless sorrow
Steals from its hiding place.
My day is barren and broken,
Bereft of light and song,
A sea beach bleak and windy
That moans the whole day long.
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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 La Grenadiere by Honore de Balzac: "Kiss me, dear angel."
She was silent for a long while, she seemed to be drawing strength
from God, and to be measuring her words by the life that remained in
her.
"Listen," she began. "Those twelve thousand francs are all that you
have in the world. You must keep the money upon you, because when I am
dead the lawyers will come and seal everything up. Nothing will be
yours then, not even your mother. All that remains for you to do will
be to go out, poor orphan children, God knows where. I have made
Annette's future secure. She will have an annuity of a hundred crowns,
and she will stay at Tours no doubt. But what will you do for yourself
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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 Critias by Plato: antiquity; while others, like Martin, discuss the Egyptian origin of the
legend, or like M. de Humboldt, whom he quotes, are disposed to find in it
a vestige of a widely-spread tradition. Others, adopting a different vein
of reflection, regard the Island of Atlantis as the anticipation of a still
greater island--the Continent of America. 'The tale,' says M. Martin,
'rests upon the authority of the Egyptian priests; and the Egyptian priests
took a pleasure in deceiving the Greeks.' He never appears to suspect that
there is a greater deceiver or magician than the Egyptian priests, that is
to say, Plato himself, from the dominion of whose genius the critic and
natural philosopher of modern times are not wholly emancipated. Although
worthless in respect of any result which can be attained by them,
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