| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Cousin Pons by Honore de Balzac: whom you shall presently behold in his den, a sight to make you
shudder; and lastly, there was the Auvergnat thirsting for money,
ready for anything--even for a crime--that should bring him the
capital he wanted. The first part of the story serves in some sort as
a prelude to this comedy in which all the actors who have hitherto
occupied the stage will reappear.
The degradation of a word is one of those curious freaks of manners
upon which whole volumes of explanation might be written. Write to an
attorney and address him as "Lawyer So-and-so," and you insult him as
surely as you would insult a wholesale colonial produce merchant by
addressing your letter to "Mr. So-and-so, Grocer." There are plenty of
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: place on the following morning; and they were to set
off very early, in order to be at home in good time.
The affair thus determined, and Thorpe's approbation secured,
Catherine only remained to be apprised of it. She had
left them for a few minutes to speak to Miss Tilney.
In that interval the plan was completed, and as soon as she
came again, her agreement was demanded; but instead of the gay
acquiescence expected by Isabella, Catherine looked grave,
was very sorry, but could not go. The engagement which
ought to have kept her from joining in the former attempt
would make it impossible for her to accompany them now.
Northanger Abbey |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Lay Morals by Robert Louis Stevenson: her lonely bed! How unsatisfactory their realisation, when
the forgetful child, half wondering, checks with every word
and action the outpouring of her maternal love! How bitter
and restless the memories that they leave behind! And for
the rest, what else has she? - to watch them with eager eyes
as they go to school, to sit in church where she can see them
every Sunday, to be passed some day unnoticed in the street,
or deliberately cut because the great man or the great woman
are with friends before whom they are ashamed to recognise
the old woman that loved them.
When she goes home that night, how lonely will the room
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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 The Lock and Key Library by Julian Hawthorne, Ed.: the officers of the gate wore a sneering smile upon their faces--
the postilions were laughing together; and this, too, in the
presence of three creatures whose exquisite beauty, in different
styles, agreeably to their different ages, would have caused
noblemen to have fallen down and worshiped. My mother, who had
never yet met with any flagrant insult on account of her national
distinctions, was too much shocked to be capable of speaking. I
whispered to her a few words, recalling her to her native dignity
of mind, paid the money, and we drove to the prison. But the hour
was past at which we could be admitted, and, as Jewesses, my mother
and sisters could not be allowed to stay in the city; they were to
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