| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Firm of Nucingen by Honore de Balzac: worth a thousand crowns; he had two sisters and a brother on his
hands, and now----"
"Now he has an income of forty thousand livres," continued Finot; "his
sisters had a handsome fortune apiece and married into noble families;
he leaves his mother a life interest in the property----"
"Even in 1827 I have known him without a penny," said Blondet.
"Oh! in 1827," said Bixiou.
"Well," resumed Finot, "yet to-day, as we see, he is in a fair way to
be a Minister, a peer of France--anything that he likes. He broke
decently with Delphine three years ago; he will not marry except on
good grounds; and he may marry a girl of noble family. The chap had
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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 Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar: red, and there would be blue marks on her face and neck. "Poor
Mrs. Tony," they would say, and nestle close to her. Tony did
not roar at her for petting them, perhaps, because they spent
money on the multi-hued candy in glass jars on the shelves.
Her mother appeared upon the scene once, and stayed a short time;
but Tony got drunk one day and beat her because she ate too much,
and she disappeared soon after. Whence she came and where she
departed, no one could tell, not even Mrs. Murphy, the Pauline
Pry and Gazette of the block.
Tony had gout, and suffered for many days in roaring
helplessness, the while his foot, bound and swathed in many folds
The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: in much splendor. And Madame Gerard would most good-naturedly pay for
the cabs needed by the lady "on foot" to go out to dine, or to the
play, and to come home again.
"Well, dear Madame Gerard," said she to this worthy mother, "my luck
is about to change, I believe."
"Well, well, madame, so much the better. But be prudent; do not run
into debt any more. I have such difficulty in getting rid of the
people who are hunting for you."
"Oh, never worry yourself about those hounds! They have all made no
end of money out of me.--Here are some tickets for the Varietes for
your girls--a good box on the second tier. If any one should ask for
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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 Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft: summoned by Wilbur Whateley, who had lashed his one remaining
horse through the darkness and telephoned from Osborn's in the
village. He found Old Whateley in a very grave state, with a cardiac
action and stertorous breathing that told of an end not far off.
The shapeless albino daughter and oddly bearded grandson stood
by the bedside, whilst from the vacant abyss overhead there came
a disquieting suggestion of rhythmical surging or lapping, as
of the waves on some level beach. The doctor, though, was chiefly
disturbed by the chattering night birds outside; a seemingly limitless
legion of whippoorwills that cried their endless message in repetitions
timed diabolically to the wheezing gasps of the dying man. It
The Dunwich Horror |
