| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Another Study of Woman by Honore de Balzac: Italians when they are fair. It is exquisite, especially under an
artificial light. When I read the fantastical portrait of Colonel
Oudet sketched by Charles Nodier, I found my own sensations in every
one of his elegant phrases. Italian, then, as were most of the
officers of his regiment, which had, in fact, been borrowed by the
Emperor from Eugene's army, my colonel was a tall man, at least eight
or nine inches above the standard, and was admirably proportioned--a
little stout perhaps, but prodigiously powerful, active, and clean-
limbed as a greyhound. His black hair in abundant curls showed up his
complexion, as white as a woman's; he had small hands, a shapely foot,
a pleasant mouth, and an aquiline nose delicately formed, of which the
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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 Contrast by Royall Tyler: JONATHAN
Mercy on my soul! A gamut for laughing--just
like fa, la, sol?
JEREMY
Yes. It comprises every possible display of jocu-
larity, from an affettuoso smile to a piano titter, or full
chorus fortissimo ha, ha, ha! My master employs his
leisure hours in marking out the plays, like a cathedral
chanting-book, that the ignorant may know where to
laugh; and that pit, box, and gallery may keep time
together, and not have a snigger in one part of the
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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 The Deserted Woman by Honore de Balzac: convalescence demanded complete rest, a light diet, bracing air, and
freedom from excitement of every kind, and the fat lands of Bessin
seemed to offer all these conditions of recovery. To Bayeux, a
picturesque place about six miles from the sea, the patient therefore
betook himself, and was received with the cordiality characteristic of
relatives who lead very retired lives, and regard a new arrival as a
godsend.
All little towns are alike, save for a few local customs. When M. le
Baron Gaston de Nueil, the young Parisian in question, had spent two
or three evenings in his cousin's house, or with the friends who made
up Mme. de Sainte-Severe's circle, he very soon had made the
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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 Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner: might awake. But Waldo did not sleep, and coming back from his sunshiny
dream, stretched out his hand for the tiny thing to mount. But the chicken
eyed the hand, and then ran off to hide under its mother's wing, and from
beneath it it sometimes put out its round head to peep at the great figure
sitting there. Presently its brothers ran off after a little white moth
and it ran out to join them; and when the moth fluttered away over their
heads they stood looking up disappointed, and then ran back to their
mother.
Waldo through his half-closed eyes looked at them. Thinking, fearing,
craving, those tiny sparks of brother life, what were they, so real there
in that old yard on that sunshiny afternoon? A few years--where would they
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