| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Bunner Sisters by Edith Wharton: their way into one that was already crowded. Ann Eliza had never
before felt so tired. Even Miss Mellins's flow of narrative ran
dry, and they sat silent, wedged between a negro woman and a pock-
marked man with a bandaged head, while the car rumbled slowly down
a squalid avenue to their corner. Evelina and Mr. Ramy sat
together in the forward part of the car, and Ann Eliza could catch
only an occasional glimpse of the forget-me-not bonnet and the
clock-maker's shiny coat-collar; but when the little party got out
at their corner the crowd swept them together again, and they
walked back in the effortless silence of tired children to the
Bunner sisters' basement. As Miss Mellins and Mr. Ramy turned to
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Salome by Oscar Wilde: prophete, sauf que j'ai eu tort de prendre comme epouse l'epouse de
mon frere. Peut-etre a-t-il raison. En effet, vous etes sterile.
HERODIAS. Je suis sterile, moi. Et vous dites cela, vous qui
regardez toujours ma fille, vous qui avez voulu la faire danser pour
votre plaisir. C'est ridicule de dire cela. Moi j'ai eu un enfant.
Vous n'avez jamais eu d'enfant, meme d'une de vos esclaves. C'est
vous qui etes sterile, ce n'est pas moi.
HERODE. Taisez-vous. Je vous dis que vous etes sterile. Vous ne
m'avez pas donne d'enfant, et le prophete dit que notre mariage
n'est pas un vrai mariage. Il dit que c'est un mariage incestueux,
un mariage qui apportera des malheurs . . . J'ai peur qu'il n'ait
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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 Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: servant, to whom Valentine had given directions. Morrel was
conducted along a dark passage, which led to a little door
opening on the garden, soon found the spot where he had
entered, with the assistance of the shrubs gained the top of
the wall, and by his ladder was in an instant in the
clover-field where his cabriolet was still waiting for him.
He got in it, and thoroughly wearied by so many emotions,
arrived about midnight in the Rue Meslay, threw himself on
his bed and slept soundly.
Chapter 74
The Villefort Family Vault.
The Count of Monte Cristo |
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 Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: his school-fellows in such a way that, though they frequently gave him
presents, he not only never returned the compliment, but even on
occasions pocketed the gifts for the mere purpose of selling them
again. Also, boy though he was, he acquired the art of self-denial. Of
the trifle which his father had given him on parting he spent not a
kopeck, but, the same year, actually added to his little store by
fashioning a bullfinch of wax, painting it, and selling the same at a
handsome profit. Next, as time went on, he engaged in other
speculations--in particular, in the scheme of buying up eatables,
taking his seat in class beside boys who had plenty of pocket-money,
and, as soon as such opulent individuals showed signs of failing
Dead Souls |
