| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac: him," he added in an undertone. "After saving up a little capital my
brother joined a banking firm, and I hear he has just effected a
speculation in Brazil which may make him a millionaire. You see me in
the highest spirits at having been able, by my diplomatic connections,
to contribute to his success. I am impatiently expecting a dispatch
from the Brazilian Legation, which will help to lift the cloud from
his brow. What do you think of him?"
"Well, your brother's face does not look to me like that of a man
busied with money matters."
The young attache shot a scrutinizing glance at the apparently calm
face of his partner.
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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 Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: stretched, fluted after the fashion of Corinthian columns, in plaits
going in and out, and bound at the top and bottom by bands of poppy-
colored stuff, on which were designs in black arabesque.
Below the muslin the poppy turned to rose, that amorous color, which
was matched by window-curtains, which were of Indian muslin lined with
rose-colored taffeta, and set off with a fringe of poppy-color and
black. Six silver-gilt arms, each supporting two candles, were
attached to the tapestry at an equal distance, to illuminate the
divan. The ceiling, from the middle of which a lustre of unpolished
silver hung, was of a brilliant whiteness, and the cornice was gilded.
The carpet was like an Oriental shawl; it had the designs and recalled
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Heart of the West by O. Henry: fair gouging!" and then he crawled from under the lion like a worm,
with his mouth full of grass and dirt, and a big lump on the back of
his head where it had struck the root of a water-elm. The lion lay
motionless. Givens, feeling aggrieved, and suspicious of fouls, shook
his fist at the lion, and shouted: "I'll rastle you again for
twenty--" and then he got back to himself.
Josefa was standing in her tracks, quietly reloading her silver-
mounted .38. It had not been a difficult shot. The lion's head made an
easier mark than a tomato-can swinging at the end of a string. There
was a provoking, teasing, maddening smile upon her mouth and in her
dark eyes. The would-be-rescuing knight felt the fire of his fiasco
Heart of the West |
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 Charmides and Other Poems by Oscar Wilde: She was a woman, so
Sweetly she grew.
Coffin-board, heavy stone,
Lie on her breast,
I vex my heart alone,
She is at rest.
Peace, Peace, she cannot hear
Lyre or sonnet,
All my life's buried here,
Heap earth upon it.
AVIGNON
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