| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Under the Red Robe by Stanley Weyman: But after waiting a minute the porter strode off also with the
lanthorn, leaving me to stand in the middle of the damp, dark
room and reflect on the position. It was plain that Clon
suspected me. This prison-like room, with its barred window, at
the back of the house, and in the wing farthest from the stables,
proved so much. Clearly, he was a dangerous fellow, of whom I
must beware. I had just begun to wonder how Madame could keep
such a monster in her house, when I heard his step returning. He
came in, lighting Louis, who carried a small pallet and a bundle
of coverings.
The dumb man had, besides the lanthorn, a bowl of water and a
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Chouans by Honore de Balzac: uneasiness.
"Your name?"
"Marche-a-Terre."
"Why do you call yourself by your Chouan name in defiance of the law?"
Marche-a-Terre, to use the name he gave to himself, looked at the
commandant with so genuine an air of stupidity that the soldier
believed the man had not understood him.
"Do you belong to the recruits from Fougeres?"
To this inquiry Marche-a-Terre replied by the bucolic "I don't know,"
the hopeless imbecility of which puts an end to all inquiry. He seated
himself by the roadside, drew from his smock a few pieces of thin,
The Chouans |
