| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Whirligigs by O. Henry: know what his women folks are up to." Oh, yes, he had
been a fool; he had looked at things from the wrong
standpoint.
But the wildest note in all the clamour was struck by
pain's forefinger, jealousy. Now, at least, he felt that
keenest sting -- a mounting love unworthily bestowed.
Whatever she might be, he loved her; he bore in his own
breast his doom. A grating, comic flavour to his pre-
dicament struck him suddenly, and he laughed creakingly
as he swung down the echoing pavement. An impetuous
desire to act, to battle with his fate, seized him. He
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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 Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: Ashton's carriage enter the avenue shortly after your lordship's,
and----"
"Make no apology, my lord," replied his noble guest; "let me
entreat you will wait on your lady, and leave me to cultivate
Miss Ashton's acquaintance. I am shocked my people should have
taken precedence of our hostess at her own gate; but your
lordship is aware that I supposed Lady Ashton was still in the
south. Permit me to beseech you will waive ceremony, and hasten
to welcome her."
This was precisely what the Lord Keeper longed to do; and he
instantly profited by his lordship's obliging permission. To see
The Bride of Lammermoor |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne: wished to shade them, the better to see into the recesses of
his own mind.
"We are, then," he continued, after having drawn Gen-
eral Kissoff aside towards a window, "since yesterday with-
out intelligence from the Grand Duke?"
"Without any, sire; and it is to be feared that in a
short time dispatches will no longer cross the Siberian
frontier."
"But have not the troops of the provinces of Amoor and
Irkutsk, as those also of the Trans-Balkan territory, received
orders to march immediately upon Irkutsk?"
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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 A Distinguished Provincial at Paris by Honore de Balzac: tender feeling inexpressible in words, and went their separate ways;
Lucien to fetch his manuscript, Daniel d'Arthez to pawn his watch and
buy a couple of faggots. The weather was cold, and his new-found
friend should find a fire in his room.
Lucien was punctual. He noticed at once that the house was of an even
poorer class than the Hotel de Cluny. A staircase gradually became
visible at the further end of a dark passage; he mounted to the fifth
floor, and found d'Arthez's room.
A bookcase of dark-stained wood, with rows of labeled cardboard cases
on the shelves, stood between the two crazy windows. A gaunt, painted
wooden bedstead, of the kind seen in school dormitories, a night-
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