| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: such training ought to live as long as the cedars of Lebanon, and
famous trees they are.'
" 'Then is the Count actually dying?' I asked.
" 'That is possible,' said Gobseck; 'the winding up of his estate will
be a juicy bit of business for you.'
"I looked at my man, and said, by way of sounding him:
" 'Just explain to me how it is that we, the Count and I, are the only
men in whom you take an interest?'
" 'Because you are the only two who have trusted me without
finessing,' he said.
"Although this answer warranted my belief that Gobseck would act
Gobseck |
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 Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: now fast steamboats ply on the Indus and the Ganges, and a great railway,
with branch lines joining the main line at many points on its route,
traverses the peninsula from Bombay to Calcutta in three days.
This railway does not run in a direct line across India.
The distance between Bombay and Calcutta, as the bird flies,
is only from one thousand to eleven hundred miles;
but the deflections of the road increase this distance by more than a third.
The general route of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway is as follows:
Leaving Bombay, it passes through Salcette, crossing to the continent
opposite Tannah, goes over the chain of the Western Ghauts,
runs thence north-east as far as Burhampoor, skirts the nearly
Around the World in 80 Days |
