| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: a man whom nothing had discouraged, talked of Domenichino and said:--
"Perseverance in the arts should be rewarded. Grassou hasn't stolen
his successes; he has delved for ten years, the poor dear man!"
That exclamation of "poor dear man!" counted for half in the support
and the congratulations which the painter received. Pity sets up
mediocrities as envy pulls down great talents, and in equal numbers.
The newspapers, it is true, did not spare criticism, but the chevalier
Fougeres digested them as he had digested the counsel of his friends,
with angelic patience.
Possessing, by this time, fifteen thousand francs, laboriously earned,
he furnished an apartment and studio in the rue de Navarin, and
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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 Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: or dig the treasure up himself, but he -- as the saying is, like
a dog in the manger -- so he died without digging it up himself
or showing other people."
The overseer lit a pipe, and for an instant lighted up his big
moustaches and his sharp, stern-looking, and dignified nose.
Little circles of light danced from his hands to his cap, raced
over the saddle along the horse's back, and vanished in its mane
near its ears.
"There are lots of hidden treasures in these parts," he said.
And slowly stretching, he looked round him, resting his eyes on
the whitening east and added:
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: heat, can hardly be considered as an exception. Some of
the craters, surmounting the larger islands, are of immense
size, and they rise to a height of between three and four
thousand feet. Their flanks are studded by innumerable
smaller orifices. I scarcely hesitate to affirm, that there
must be in the whole archipelago at least two thousand
craters. These consist either of lava or scoriae, or of finely-
stratified, sandstone-like tuff. Most of the latter are
beautifully symmetrical; they owe their origin to eruptions of
volcanic mud without any lava: it is a remarkable circumstance
that every one of the twenty-eight tuff-craters which
The Voyage of the Beagle |
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 Madame Firmiani by Honore de Balzac: filling at the thought of his sister.
Just then, in spite of the distance between Octave's garret and the
street, the young man heard the sound of a carriage.
"There she is!" he cried; "I know her horses by the way they are
pulled up."
A few moments more, and Madame Firmiani entered the room.
"Ah!" she exclaimed, with a gesture of annoyance at seeing Monsieur de
Bourbonne. "But our uncle is not in the way," she added quickly,
smiling; "I came to humbly entreat my husband to accept my fortune.
The Austrian Embassy has just sent me a document which proves the
death of Monsieur Firmiani, also the will, which his valet was keeping
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