| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: it.
Those who know love in its infinitude know that those who do not
accept its virtues do not experience its pleasures. Since the scene in
the den in the Rue de Langlade, Esther had utterly forgotten her
former existence. She had since lived very virtuously, cloistered by
her passion. Hence, to avoid any obstacle, the skilful fiend had been
clever enough to lay such a train that the poor girl, prompted by her
devotion, had merely to utter her consent to swindling actions already
done, or on the point of accomplishment. This subtlety, revealing the
mastery of the tempter, also characterized the methods by which he had
subjugated Lucien. He created a terrible situation, dug a mine, filled
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Prufrock/Other Observations by T. S. Eliot: Beats like a fatalistic drum,
And through the spaces of the dark
Midnight shakes the memory
As a madman shakes a dead geranium.
Half-past one,
The street lamp sputtered,
The street lamp muttered,
The street lamp said,
"Regard that woman
Who hesitates toward you in the light of the door
Which opens on her like a grin.
Prufrock/Other Observations |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: looking at pictures.
Moreover, there are really trout in the Traun, rari nantes in
gurgite; and in some places more than in others; and all of high
spirit, though few of great size. Thus the angler has his
favourite problem: Given an unknown stream and two kinds of fish,
the one better than the other; to find the better kind, and
determine the hour at which they will rise. This is sport.
As for the little river itself, it has so many beauties that one
does not think of asking whether it has any faults. Constant
fulness, and crystal clearness, and refreshing coolness of living
water, pale green like the jewel that is called aqua marina,
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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 Two Poets by Honore de Balzac: "M. Chardon," corrected Stanislas, with ironical stress; he did not
take Bargeton seriously.
"So be it," answered the other. "If you do not withdraw your
assertions at once before the company now in your house, I must ask
you to look for a second. My father-in-law, M. de Negrepelisse, will
wait upon you at four o'clock to-morrow morning. Both of us may as
well make our final arrangements, for the only way out of the affair
is the one that I have indicated. I choose pistols, as the insulted
party."
This was the speech that M. de Bargeton had ruminated on the way; it
was the longest that he had ever made in life. He brought it out
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