| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honore de Balzac: always 'So-and-so, insolvent,' until the whole debt is paid off. If
bankrupt, he should be condemned, as formerly, to the pillory on the
Place de la Bourse, and exposed for two hours, wearing a green cap.
His property and that of his wife, and all his rights of every kind
should be handed over to his creditors, and he himself banished from
the kingdom."
"Business would be more secure," said Lourdois; "people would think
twice before launching into speculations."
"The existing laws are not enforced," cried Cesar, lashing himself up.
"Out of every hundred merchants there are more than fifty who never
realize seventy-five per cent of the whole value of their business, or
Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey: supporters Monty and Link were striding up.
Both were diminutive in size, bow-legged, lame in one foot, and
altogether unprepossessing. Link was young, and Monty's years,
more than twice Link's, had left their mark. But it would have
been impossible to tell Monty's age. As Stillwell said, Monty
was burned to the color and hardness of a cinder. He never
minded the heat, and always wore heavy sheepskin chaps with the
wool outside. This made him look broader than he was long.
Link, partial to leather, had, since he became Madeline's
chauffeur, taken to leather altogether. He carried no weapon, but
Monty wore a huge gun-sheath and gun. Link smoked a cigarette and
The Light of Western Stars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Maitre Cornelius by Honore de Balzac: lock, the key of which was kept by Cornelius.
After examining everything, the king sent for Tristan, and ordered him
to post several of his men for the night, and with the greatest
secrecy, in the mulberry trees on the embankment and on the roofs of
the adjoining houses, and to assemble at once the rest of his men and
escort him back to Plessis, so as to give the idea in the town that he
himself would not sup with Cornelius. Next, he told the miser to close
his windows with the utmost care, that no single ray of light should
escape from the house, and then he departed with much pomp for Plessis
along the embankment; but there he secretly left his escort, and
returned by a door in the ramparts to the house of the torconnier. All
|
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 On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: plumule and radicle. In our discussion on embryology, we shall see why
such characters are so valuable, on the view of classification tacitly
including the idea of descent.
Our classifications are often plainly influenced by chains of affinities.
Nothing can be easier than to define a number of characters common to all
birds; but in the case of crustaceans, such definition has hitherto been
found impossible. There are crustaceans at the opposite ends of the
series, which have hardly a character in common; yet the species at both
ends, from being plainly allied to others, and these to others, and so
onwards, can be recognised as unequivocally belonging to this, and to no
other class of the Articulata.
On the Origin of Species |
