| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Unconscious Comedians by Honore de Balzac: positively, by the Chamber; I heard this yesterday from that marcheuse
whom we smiled at just now. If I win five or six thousand francs at
lansquenet to-night, why should I grudge sixty-five francs for the
power to stake, hey?"
"Lansquenet is another of the thousand facets of Paris as it is," said
Leon. "And therefore, cousin, I intend to present you to-night in the
salon of a duchess,--a duchess of the rue Saint-Georges, where you
will see the aristocracy of the lorettes, and probably be able to win
your lawsuit. But it is quite impossible to present you anywhere with
that mop of Pyrenean hair; you look like a porcupine; and therefore
we'll take you close by, Place de la Bourse, to Marius, another of our
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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 Herbert West: Reanimator by H. P. Lovecraft: had befallen this man. A larger man guided his steps; a repellent
hulk whose bluish face seemed half eaten away by some unknown
malady. The speaker had asked for the custody of the cannibal
monster committed from Arkham sixteen years before; and upon being
refused, gave a signal which precipitated a shocking riot. The
fiends had beaten, trampled, and bitten every attendant who did
not flee; killing four and finally succeeding in the liberation
of the monster. Those victims who could recall the event without
hysteria swore that the creatures had acted less like men than
like unthinkable automata guided by the wax-faced leader. By the
time help could be summoned, every trace of the men and of their
 Herbert West: Reanimator |