| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: some household work in the building, and Coffinet himself, taking
advantage of that circumstance, had allowed a friend to entice him
into a neighboring wine-shop, where, between two glasses, he was
supporting, against a republican who was talking disrespectfully
against it, the cause of the owners of property.
It was twenty minutes before the worthy porter, remembering the
"property" entrusted to his charge, decided to return to his post. It
is easy to imagine the reproaches with which la Peyrade overwhelmed
him. He excused himself by saying that he had gone to do a commission
for Mademoiselle, and that he couldn't be at the door and where his
masters chose to send him at the same time. At last, however, he gave
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from All's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare: Proud scornful boy, unworthy this good gift;
That dost in vile misprision shackle up
My love and her desert; that canst not dream
We, poising us in her defective scale,
Shall weigh thee to the beam; that wilt not know
It is in us to plant thine honour where
We please to have it grow. Check thy contempt:
Obey our will, which travails in thy good;
Believe not thy disdain, but presently
Do thine own fortunes that obedient right
Which both thy duty owes and our power claims
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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 Selected Writings of Guy De Maupassant by Guy De Maupassant: glasses, and shouting, "Long live Prussia!" emptied them at a
draught.
The girls did not protest, for they were reduced to silence, and
were afraid. Even Rachel did not say a word, as she had no reply
to make, and then the little count put his champagne glass, which
had just been refilled, on to the head of the Jewess, and
exclaimed: "All the women in France belong to us, also!"
At that she got up so quickly that the glass upset, spilling the
amber colored wine on to her black hair as if to baptize her, and
broke into a hundred fragments as it fell on to the floor. With
trembling lips, she defied the looks of the officer, who was
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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 Tales of Unrest by Joseph Conrad: her cheeks.
"When I made up my mind to go to him--I wrote," she said.
"But you didn't go to him," he took up in the same tone. "How far did
you go? What made you come back?"
"I didn't know myself," she murmured. Nothing of her moved but her
lips. He fixed her sternly.
"Did he expect this? Was he waiting for you?" he asked.
She answered him by an almost imperceptible nod, and he continued to
look at her for a good while without making a sound. Then, at last--
"And I suppose he is waiting yet?" he asked, quickly.
Again she seemed to nod at him. For some reason he felt he must know
Tales of Unrest |
