| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ferragus by Honore de Balzac: of scraps an intelligent inventory of which would have revealed the
lives and habits of every dweller in the house,--bits of printed
cottons, tea-leaves, artificial flower-petals faded and worthless,
vegetable parings, papers, scraps of metal. At every sweep of her
broom the old woman bared the soul of the gutter, that black fissure
on which a porter's mind is ever bent. The poor lover examined this
scene, like a thousand others which our heaving Paris presents daily;
but he examined it mechanically, as a man absorbed in thought, when,
happening to look up, he found himself all but nose to nose with a man
who had just entered the gateway.
In appearance this man was a beggar, but not the Parisian beggar,--
Ferragus |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Another Study of Woman by Honore de Balzac: at the ball; there she was our creditor; in her own home she owes you
the pleasure of her wit. These are the shades of which the lady is a
marvelous mistress. What she likes in you is a man to swell her
circle, an object for the cares and attentions which such women are
now happy to bestow. Therefore, to attract you to her drawing-room,
she will be bewitchingly charming. This especially is where you feel
how isolated women are nowadays, and why they want a little world of
their own, to which they may seem a constellation. Conversation is
impossible without generalities."
"Yes," said de Marsay, "you have truly hit the fault of our age. The
epigram--a volume in a word--no longer strikes, as it did in the
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: You two treated us like dogs, and if you think we got any love
for you you better forget it."
"You mean to say that you're going to turn against me?"
demanded Paulvitch.
The other nodded, and then after a momentary pause,
during which an idea seemed to have occurred to him,
he spoke again.
"Unless," he said, "you can make it worth my while to
let you go before the Englishman finds you here."
"You wouldn't turn me away in the jungle, would you?"
asked Paulvitch. "Why, I'd die there in a week."
The Beasts of Tarzan |
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 Out of Time's Abyss by Edgar Rice Burroughs: and you must die!" he ended with a scream as he rushed upon the girl.
Bradley waited no longer. Leaping into the room he ran for the
Wieroo, who had already seized the girl, and as he ran, he
stooped and picked up the curved blade. The creature's back was
toward him as, with his left hand, he seized it by the neck.
Like a flash the great wings beat backward as the creature
turned, and Bradley was swept from his feet, though he still
retained his hold upon the blade. Instantly the Wieroo was
upon him. Bradley lay slightly raised upon his left elbow, his
right arm free, and as the thing came close, he cut at the hideous
face with all the strength that lay within him. The blade struck
Out of Time's Abyss |
