| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: cold and dignified reception he will probably give you; at heart, he
is good and kind, and you will appreciate him better when you know
him."
"Here," thought I, "are very comforting assurances, and as I myself am
not very ardently disposed, I foresee that this interview will be at
some degrees below zero."
On going into the room where the Marquis awaited me, I saw a very
tall, very thin, very bald man, seated at a table on which he was
arranging papers. On hearing the door open, he pushed his spectacles
up on his forehead, rested his hands on the arms of his chair, and
looking round at us he waited.
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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 Virginian by Owen Wister: upon the alkali. "She's not likely to have forgot that mix-up,
though. I guess I'll not remind her about grippin' me, and all
that. She wasn't the kind a man ought to josh about such things.
She had a right clear eye." Thus, tall and loose in the saddle,
did he jog along the sixty miles which still lay between him and
the dance.
X. WHERE FANCY WAS BRED
Two camps in the open, and the Virginian's Monte horse, untired,
brought him to the Swintons' in good time for the barbecue. The
horse received good food at length, while his rider was welcomed
with good whiskey. GOOD whiskey--for had not steers jumped to
The Virginian |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Lamentable Tragedy of Locrine and Mucedorus by William Shakespeare: give an whole oxe than that thou shouldst serve me
in that sort. Dash out my brains? O horrible!
terrible! I think I have a quarry of stones in my
pocket.
[Let him make as though he would give him some,
and as he putteth out his hand, enter the ghost of
Albanact, and strike him on the hand: and so
Strumbo runs out, Humber following him. Exit.]
ALBANACT'S GHOST.
Lo, here the gift of fell ambition,
Of usurpation and of treachery!
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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 The Reef by Edith Wharton: quick incessant gestures.She was clearly an American, but
with the loose native quality strained through a closer woof
of manners: the composite product of an enquiring and
adaptable race. All this, however, did not help him to fit
a name to her, for just such instances were perpetually
pouring through the London Embassy, and the etched and
angular American was becoming rarer than the fluid type.
More puzzling than the fact of his being unable to identify
her was the persistent sense connecting her with something
uncomfortable and distasteful. So pleasant a vision as that
gleaming up at him between wet brown hair and wet brown boa
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