| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare: I'll make him glad to seem Vincentio,
And give assurance to Baptista Minola,
As if he were the right Vincentio.
Take in your love, and then let me alone.
[Exeunt LUCENTIO and BIANCA.]
[Enter a PEDANT.]
PEDANT.
God save you, sir!
TRANIO.
And you, sir! you are welcome.
Travel you far on, or are you at the farthest?
The Taming of the Shrew |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Purse by Honore de Balzac: own interests, they are all faithful to the Austrian status quo.
If you speak of moving a cupboard or a door, of opening the most
indispensable air-hole, their eyes flash, their bile rises, they
rear like a frightened horse. When the wind blows down a few
chimney-pots they are quite ill, and deprive themselves of an
evening at the Gymnase or the Porte-Saint-Martin Theatre, "on
account of repairs." Hippolyte, who had seen the performance
gratis of a comical scene with Monsieur Molineux as concerning
certain decorative repairs in his studio, was not surprised to
see the dark greasy paint, the oily stains, spots, and other
disagreeable accessories that varied the woodwork. And these
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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 Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbot: in One Dimension produces a Line, and how a straight Line
in Two Dimensions produces a Square. After this, forcing a laugh,
I said, "And now, you scamp, you wanted to make me believe
that a Square may in the same way by motion 'Upward, not Northward'
produce another figure, a sort of extra Square in Three Dimensions.
Say that again, you young rascal."
At this moment we heard once more the herald's "O yes! O yes!"
outside in the street proclaiming the Resolution of the Council.
Young though he was, my Grandson -- who was unusually intelligent
for his age, and bred up in perfect reverence for the authority
of the Circles -- took in the situation with an acuteness for which
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |
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 Z. Marcas by Honore de Balzac: is to be feared; this man, intoxicated by Royal glibness, had fancied
that his position would be permanent; he acknowledged his
delinquencies; besides confessing them, he did Marcas a small money
service, for Marcas had got into debt. He subsidized the newspaper on
which Marcas worked, and made him the manager of it.
Though he despised the man, Marcas, who, practically, was being
subsidized too, consented to take the part of the fallen minister.
Without unmasking at once all the batteries of his superior intellect,
Marcas came a little further than before; he showed half his
shrewdness. The Ministry lasted only a hundred and eighty days; it was
swallowed up. Marcas had put himself into communication with certain
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