| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: you think Jo would despise me as you do?"
"Yes, if she saw you now. She hates lazy people. Why don't
you do something splendid, and make her love you?"
"I did my best, but it was no use."
"Graduating well, you mean? That was no more than you
ought to have done, for your grandfather's sake. It would
have been shameful to fail after spending so much time and
money, when everyone knew that you could do well."
"I did fail, say what you will, for Jo wouldn't love me,"
began Laurie, leaning his head on his hand in a despondent
attitude.
Little Women |
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: nearly accusing him of fratricide.
"Ah! I was sure of it," cried the banker, looking at his wife. "What
did I tell you just now, Madame des Grassins? Grandet is honorable to
the backbone, and would never allow his name to remain under the
slightest cloud! Money without honor is a disease. There is honor in
the provinces! Right, very right, Grandet. I'm an old soldier, and I
can't disguise my thoughts; I speak roughly. Thunder! it is sublime!"
"Th-then s-s-sublime th-things c-c-cost d-dear," answered the goodman,
as the banker warmly wrung his hand.
"But this, my dear Grandet,--if the president will excuse me,--is a
purely commercial matter, and needs a consummate business man. Your
Eugenie Grandet |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy: "Yes, yes; that's so! It's the way o' the warrld," said
Farfrae.
"Ha, ha, true!" cried Henchard, throwing himself into a mood
of jocularity. "Up and down! I'm used to it. What's the
odds after all!"
"Now listen to me, if it's no taking up your time," said
Farfrae, "just as I listened to you. Don't go. Stay at
home."
"But I can do nothing else, man!" said Henchard scornfully.
"The little money I have will just keep body and soul
together for a few weeks, and no more. I have not felt
The Mayor of Casterbridge |
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: one feels somehow confronted by forbidden things, with which it
would be better to have nothing to do. When a rise in the road
brings the mountains in view above the deep woods, the feeling
of strange uneasiness is increased. The summits are too rounded
and symmetrical to give a sense of comfort and naturalness, and
sometimes the sky silhouettes with especial clearness the queer
circles of tall stone pillars with which most of them are crowned.
Gorges and ravines of problematical depth intersect the way,
and the crude wooden bridges always seem of dubious safety. When
the road dips again there are stretches of marshland that one
instinctively dislikes, and indeed almost fears at evening when
The Dunwich Horror |
