| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy: father, and even the mother, had got drunk at times,
the younger children seldom had gone to church, and the
eldest daughter had made queer unions. By some means
the village had to be kept pure. So on this, the first
Lady-Day on which the Durbeyfields were expellable, the
house, being roomy, was required for a carter with a
large family; and Widow Joan, her daughters Tess and
'Liza-Lu, the boy Abraham and the younger children, had
to go elsewhere.
On the evening preceding their removal it was getting
dark betimes by reason of a drizzling rain which
Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac: it.
"I thank you," she said to Madame des Grassins.
"Ah! you have the voice and manner of your deceased father," Madame
des Grassins replied.
"Madame, you have eight thousand francs to pay us," said Nanon,
producing Charles's cheque.
"That's true; have the kindness to come with me now, Madame
Cornoiller."
"Monsieur le cure," said Eugenie with a noble composure, inspired by
the thought she was about to express, "would it be a sin to remain a
virgin after marriage?"
Eugenie Grandet |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honore de Balzac: daughter, though she would not tell them the cause of her distress.
"I m nervous," she said.
The rest of the evening was spent by the elders at the card-table, and
by the young people in those little games called innocent because they
cover the innocent by-play of bourgeois love. The Matifats joined in
these games.
"Cesar," said Constance as they drove home, "go and see Monsieur le
Baron de Nucingen on the 8th so as to be sure of having your payments
ready in advance of the 15th. If there should be any hitch, how could
you scrape the money together if you have only one day to do it in?"
"I will see to it, wife," said Cesar, pressing his wife's hand and his
Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau |
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 Sportsman by Xenophon: been said.[1] But there are many benefits which the enthusiastic
sportsman may expect to derive from this pursuit.[2] I speak of the
health which will thereby accrue to the physical frame, the quickening
of the eye and ear, the defiance of old age, and last, but not least,
the warlike training which it ensures. To begin with, when some day he
has to tramp along rough ways under arms, the heavy infantry soldier
will not faint or flag--he will stand the toil from being long
accustomed to the same experiences in capturing wild beasts. In the
next place, men so trained will be capable of sleeping on hard
couches, and prove brave guardians of the posts assigned them. In the
actual encounter with the enemy, they will know at once how to attack
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