| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Tapestried Chamber by Walter Scott: adventures in the Tapestried Chamber.
"I undressed and went to bed so soon as your lordship left me
yesterday evening; but the wood in the chimney, which nearly
fronted my bed, blazed brightly and cheerfully, and, aided by a
hundred exciting recollections of my childhood and youth, which
had been recalled by the unexpected pleasure of meeting your
lordship, prevented me from falling immediately asleep. I ought,
however, to say that these reflections were all of a pleasant and
agreeable kind, grounded on a sense of having for a time
exchanged the labour, fatigues, and dangers of my profession for
the enjoyments of a peaceful life, and the reunion of those
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honore de Balzac: rare chance, and one of good omen, with which he resolved to regale
Cesar on the morrow. Soon after, while standing about the door of the
Hotel du Commerce, at the end of the Rue des Deux-Ecus, about
midnight, he heard, in the far distance of the Rue de Grenelle, a
vaudeville chorus sung by Gaudissart, with a cane accompaniment
significantly rapped upon the pavement.
"Monsieur," said Anselme, suddenly appearing from the doorway, "two
words?"
"Eleven, if you like," said the commercial traveller, brandishing his
loaded cane over the aggressor.
"I am Popinot," said poor Anselme.
Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Second Home by Honore de Balzac: entirely concealed by a large white bonnet, concluded that the voice
was hers. He fancied that he recognized Angelique in spite of a brown
merino pelisse that wrapped her, and he nudged his father's elbow.
"Yes, there she is," said the Count, after looking where his son
pointed, and then, by an expressive glance, he directed his attention
to the pale face of an elderly woman who had already detected the
strangers, though her false eyes, deep set in dark circles, did not
seem to have strayed from the prayer-book she held.
Angelique raised her face, gazing at the altar as if to inhale the
heavy scent of the incense that came wafted in clouds over the two
women. And then, in the doubtful light that the tapers shed down the
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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 Hiero by Xenophon: [13] {logizomenos}, "to apply my moral algebra."
[14] {en tois dia tes opseos theamasi}. See Hartman, "An. Xen. Nova,"
p. 246. {theamasi} = "spectacular effects," is perhaps a gloss on
"all objects apprehensible through vision." Holden (crit. app.)
would rather omit {dia tes opseos} with Schneid.
[15] The words are perhaps a gloss.
[16] e.g. the games at Olympia, or the great Dionysia at Athens, etc.
[17] Omitting {einai}, or if with Breit. {dokei einai . . .
sunageiresthai}, transl. "in which it is recognised that sights
are to be seen best fitted to enchain the eyes and congregate vast
masses." For other emendations see Holden, crit. app.; Hartm. op.
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