| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac: Emilie knew, better than any one, that the Vicomte de Longueville had
the steadfast nature in which a wise woman sees a guarantee of
happiness. She looked at the admiral who, to use his favorite
expression, seemed likely to hold his course for a long time yet, and
cursed the follies of her youth.
At this moment Monsieur de Persepolis said with Episcopal grace: "Fair
lady, you have thrown away the king of hearts--I have won. But do not
regret your money. I keep it for my little seminaries."
PARIS, December 1829.
ADDENDUM
The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Koran: were warned. Verily, in that is a sign; but most of them will never be
believers. And, verily, thy Lord He is mighty, merciful,
compassionate.
The fellows of the Grove called the apostles liars; Sho'haib said to
them, 'Will ye not fear? verily, I am to you a faithful apostle,
then fear God and obey me. I do not ask you for it any hire; my hire
is only with the Lord of the worlds. Give good measure, and be not
of those who diminish; and weigh with a fair balance, and do not cheat
men of their goods; and waste not the land, despoiling it; and fear
Him who created you and the races of yore!' Said they, 'Thou art
only of the infatuated; and thou art only a mortal like ourselves;
The Koran |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas: hand; he desired they should be returned to the queen."
"Then here is a handkerchief to wrap them in," replied
Athos, drawing from his pocket the one he had steeped in the
king's blood.
"And what," he continued, "has been done with the poor
body?"
"By order of Cromwell royal honors will be accorded to it.
The doctors are embalming the corpse, and when it is ready
it will be placed in a lighted chapel."
"Mockery," muttered Athos, savagely; "royal honors to one
whom they have murdered!"
Twenty Years After |
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 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: had expected to find the physical signs of the approach of death
more marked--greater weakness, greater emaciation, but still
almost the same condition of things. He had expected himself to
feel the same distress at the loss of the brother he loved and
the same horror in face of death as he had felt then, only in a
greater degree. And he had prepared himself for this; but he
found something utterly different.
In a little dirty room with the painted panels of its walls
filthy with spittle, and conversation audible through the thin
partition from the next room, in a stifling atmosphere saturated
with impurities, on a bedstead moved away from the wall, there
Anna Karenina |
