| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Master of the World by Jules Verne: day, with slouched hats, heavy woolen suits, stout walking shoes and
sticks in hand. Undoubtedly, they were staring persistently at my
apparently unwatchful house. Then, having exchanged a few words, they
strolled off a little way, and returned again.
"Are you sure these are the same men you saw before?"
"Yes, sir."
Evidently, I could no longer dismiss her warning as an hallucination;
and I promised myself to clear up the matter. As to following the men
myself, I was presumably too well known to them. To address them
directly would probably be of no use. But that very day, one of our
best men should be put on watch, and if the spies returned on the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Sons of the Soil by Honore de Balzac: cooks using in this present day. Here it is, in its simplicity:--
"If my mistress," says the cook, "went to market herself, she would
have to pay more for her provisions than I charge her; she is the
gainer, and the profits I make do more good in my hands than in those
of the dealers."
"If Mademoiselle," thought Gaubertin, "were to manage Les Aigues
herself, she would never get thirty thousand francs a year out of it;
the peasants, the dealers, the workmen would rob her of the rest. It
is much better that I should have it, and so enable her to live in
peace."
The Catholic religion, and it alone, is able to prevent these
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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 A Straight Deal by Owen Wister: friendly, everything had been friendly each day.
"Well," said a very rich American to his English partner in the game,
"those big estates will all be ours pretty soon. We're going to buy them
up and turn your island into our summer resort." No doubt this
millionaire intended to be playfully humorous.
At a table where several British and one American--an officer--sat during
another ocean voyage between Liverpool and Halifax in June, 1919, the
officer expressed satisfaction to be getting home again. He had gone
over, he said, to "clean up the mess the British had made."
To a company of Americans who had never heard it before, was told the
well-known exploit of an American girl in Europe. In an ancient church
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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 Taras Bulba and Other Tales by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: they cannot climb it!" But the wind did not carry his words to them.
"They are lost, lost!" he said in despair, and glanced down to where
the water of the Dniester glittered. Joy gleamed in his eyes. He saw
the sterns of four boats peeping out from behind some bushes; exerted
all the power of his lungs, and shouted in a ringing tone, "To the
bank, to the bank, men! descend the path to the left, under the cliff.
There are boats on the bank; take all, that they may not catch you."
This time the breeze blew from the other side, and his words were
audible to the Cossacks. But for this counsel he received a blow on
the head with the back of an axe, which made everything dance before
his eyes.
Taras Bulba and Other Tales |
