| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pierrette by Honore de Balzac: visible change in the girl by her natural growth. But at last, one
Sunday evening, when Pierrette was in the salon, her sufferings
overcame her and she fainted away. The colonel, who first saw her
going, caught her in his arms and carried her to a sofa.
"She did it on purpose," said Sylvie, looking at Mademoiselle Habert
and the rest who were playing boston with her.
"I assure you that your cousin is very ill," said the colonel.
"She seemed well enough in your arms," Sylvie said to him in a low
voice, with a savage smile.
"The colonel is right," said Madame de Chargeboeuf. "You ought to send
for a doctor. This morning at church every one was speaking, as they
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ivanhoe by Walter Scott: He could not bring himself to acknowledge, in presence
of such an assembly, the son whom he had
renounced and disinherited. He ordered, however,
Oswald to keep an eye upon him; and directed
that officer, with two of his serfs, to convey Ivanhoe
to Ashby as soon as the crowd had dispersed.
Oswald, however, was anticipated in this good office.
The crowd dispersed, indeed, but the knight
was nowhere to be seen.
It was in vain that Cedric's cupbearer looked
around for his young master---he saw the bloody
Ivanhoe |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Chinese Boy and Girl by Isaac Taylor Headland: evening session. They referred to many different games
which they had received from Europeans, but played only
those which Chi had learned upon the street before he
entered school. This was repeated day after day, until we
had gathered a large collection of their most common, and
consequently their best, games, the number of which was
an indication of the richness of the play life of Chinese boys.
Another peculiarly interesting fact was the leadership of
Chi. The Chinese boy, like the Chinese man is a genuine
democrat and is ready to follow the one who knows what he
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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 Purse by Honore de Balzac: face there were traces too of perennial regret. At least, it was
thus that the painter chose to interpret her attitude and
countenance, and he presently sat down again by her side.
"Madame," he said, "in a very short time the colors of that
pastel will have disappeared. The portrait will only survive in
your memory. Where you will still see the face that is dear to
you, others will see nothing at all. Will you allow me to
reproduce the likeness on canvas? It will be more permanently
recorded then than on that sheet of paper. Grant me, I beg, as a
neighborly favor, the pleasure of doing you this service. There
are times when an artist is glad of a respite from his greater
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