| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac: never give his daughter to the one or to the other. The old cooper,
eaten up with ambition, was looking, they said, for a peer of France,
to whom an income of three hundred thousand francs would make all the
past, present, and future casks of the Grandets acceptable. Others
replied that Monsieur and Madame des Grassins were nobles, and
exceedingly rich; that Adolphe was a personable young fellow; and that
unless the old man had a nephew of the pope at his beck and call, such
a suitable alliance ought to satisfy a man who came from nothing,--a
man whom Saumur remembered with an adze in his hand, and who had,
moreover, worn the /bonnet rouge/. Certain wise heads called attention
to the fact that Monsieur Cruchot de Bonfons had the right of entry to
Eugenie Grandet |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Burning Daylight by Jack London: He dropped the piece of quartz, slid down the slide, and started
up the trail, running heavily. At the edge of the clearing he
eased down and almost crept to a point of vantage whence he could
peer out, himself unseen. She was feeding the chickens, tossing
to them handfuls of grain and laughing at their antics.
The sight of her seemed to relieve the panic fear into which he
had been flung, and he turned and ran back down the trail. Again
he climbed the slide, but this time he climbed higher, carrying
the pick and shovel with him. And again he toiled frenziedly,
but this time with a different purpose. He worked artfully,
loosing slide after slide of the red soil and sending it
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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 A Second Home by Honore de Balzac: priest, whose features were mean; his flabby, fat cheeks and double
chin betrayed the easy-going egotist; his powdered hair gave him a
pleasant look, till he raised his small, brown eyes, prominent under a
flat forehead, and not unworthy to glitter under the brows of a
Tartar.
"Monsieur l'Abbe," said Francoise, "I thank you for all your advice;
but believe me, I have taken the greatest care of the dear soul."
But the servant, with her dragging step and woe-begone look, was
silent when she saw that the door of the apartment was open, and that
the most insinuating of the three dowagers was standing on the landing
to be the first to speak with the confessor. When the priest had
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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 Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: Then she went to the garden and pulled a leaf or two of the youngest, greenest
lettuce, and put it right within reach of Bunny's nose, and a little saucer of
water beside it. Then she went down to tell the gardener's little boy all
about the sorrowful thing that had happened.
The next morning Bunny was still breathing, but the lettuce was un-nibbled; he
had not moved an inch, and he was trembling like a leaf. "Mamma," she called
upstairs, "I think I'll put BUN in the sun" (she was trying not to be too
down-hearted); "he seems to be a little chilly." Then she sat herself down in
the sun to watch him. Soon Bunny ceased to tremble. "Patrick," she called to
the old man who was using the lawn mower, "is this little rabbit dead?"
"Yes, miss, shure," taking the little thing gently in his hand.
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