| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Madame Firmiani by Honore de Balzac: are to call the action by which you hold your property.'"
The nephew looked at the uncle, who lowered his head.
"'I will not tell you all the thoughts that assail me; they can be
reduced to one,--this is it: I cannot respect the man who,
knowingly, is smirched for a sum of money, whatever the amount may
be; five francs stolen at play or five times a hundred thousand
gained by a legal trick are equally dishonoring. I will tell you
all. I feel myself degraded by the very love which has hitherto
been all my joy. There rises in my soul a voice which my
tenderness cannot stifle. Ah! I have wept to feel that I have more
conscience than love. Were you to commit a crime I would hide you
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Manon Lescaut by Abbe Prevost: that is to say, that she was incapable of enduring even the
thought of poverty. `However,' said I to him, `when it is a mere
question of more or less, I do not believe that she would give me
up for any other person; I can afford to let her want for
nothing, and I have from day to day reason to hope that my
fortune will improve; I only dread one thing,' continued I,
`which is, that G---- M---- may take unfair advantage of the
knowledge he has of our place of residence, and bring us into
trouble by disclosing it.'
"M. de T---- assured me that I might be perfectly easy upon that
head; that G---- M---- might be capable of a silly passion, but
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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 McTeague by Frank Norris: one of the grand ladies as she carefully balanced herself on
a step-ladder. By evening everything was in place. As the
last grand lady left the school, she gave Trina an extra
dollar for her work, and said:
"Now, if you'll just tidy up here, Mrs. McTeague, I think
that will be all. Sweep up the pine needles here--you
see they are all over the floor--and look through all the
rooms, and tidy up generally. Good night--and a Happy New
Year," she cried pleasantly as she went out.
Trina put the dollar away in her trunk before she did
anything else and cooked herself a bit of supper. Then she
McTeague |
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 Little Britain by Washington Irving: anecdotes of Alderman Plunket's family, of Portsokenward,
and the Miss Timberlakes, the rich heiresses of Crutched-Friars;
but then they relieved their consciences, and averted the
reproaches of their confederates, by canvassing at the next
gossiping convocation everything that had passed, and pulling
the Lambs and their rout all to pieces.
The only one of the family that could not be made
fashionable was the retired butcher himself. Honest Lamb, in
spite of the meekness of his name, was a rough, hearty old
fellow, with the voice of a lion, a head of black hair like a
shoe-
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