| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Albert Savarus by Honore de Balzac: she is so cunning.--What is your quarrel with me?" he went on, going
at last to sit down by her side, and asking her by a gesture to give
him her hand, which she withdrew. "You are cold and ceremonious; what,
in colloquial language, we should call /short/."
"It is true," she replied with a smile. "I am wrong. It is not good
manners; it is vulgar. In French you would call it inartistic. It is
better to be frank than to harbor cold or hostile feelings towards a
friend, and you have already proved yourself my friend. Perhaps I have
gone too far with you. You must take me to be a very ordinary woman."
--Rodolphe made many signs of denial.--"Yes," said the bookseller's
wife, going on without noticing this pantomime, which, however, she
Albert Savarus |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley: saw-fish and threshers and ice-sharks, who hunt the poor old
whales. They came and rubbed their great sides against the buoy,
and lay basking in the sun with their backfins out of water; and
winked at Tom: but he never could get them to speak. They had
eaten so many herrings that they were quite stupid; and Tom was
glad when a collier brig came by and frightened them all away; for
they did smell most horribly, certainly, and he had to hold his
nose tight as long as they were there.
And then there came by a beautiful creature, like a ribbon of pure
silver with a sharp head and very long teeth; but it seemed very
sick and sad. Sometimes it rolled helpless on its side; and then
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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 Commission in Lunacy by Honore de Balzac: " 'In confirmation of the facts herein set forth, the petitioner can
bring the evidence of persons who are in the habit of seeing the
Marquis d'Espard, whose names and professions are subjoined, many of
whom have urged her to demand a commission in lunacy to declare M.
d'Espard incapable of managing his own affairs, as being the only way
to preserve his fortune from the effects of his maladministration and
his children from his fatal influence.
" 'Taking all this into consideration, M. le President, and the
affidavits subjoined, the petitioner desires that it may please you,
inasmuch as the foregoing facts sufficiently prove the insanity and
incompetency of the Marquis d'Espard herein described with his titles
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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 Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honore de Balzac: essence. Nuts are worth five sous a pound, Monsieur Vauquelin will
increase their value one hundredfold, and we shall, perhaps, do a
service to humanity; for if vanity is the cause of the greatest
torments of mankind, a good cosmetic becomes a benefaction."
The religious admiration with which Popinot listened to the father of
Cesarine stimulated Birotteau's eloquence, who allowed himself to
expatiate in phrases which certainly were extremely wild for a
bourgeois.
"Be respectful, Anselme," he said, as they reached the street where
Monsieur Vauquelin lived, "we are about to enter the sanctuary of
science. Put the Virgin in full sight, but not ostentatiously, in the
Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau |
