| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: folly one utters, there are always idiots to be found who will believe
it. The best form of discretion is that of women when they want to
take the change out of their husbands. It consists in compromising a
woman with whom we are not concerned, or whom we do not love, in order
to save the honor of the one whom we love well enough to respect. It
is what is called the /woman-screen/. . . . Ah! here is Laurent. What
have you got for us?"
"Some Ostend oysters, Monsieur le Comte."
"You will know some day, Paul, how amusing it is to make a fool of the
world by depriving it of the secret of one's affections. I derive an
immense pleasure in escaping from the stupid jurisdiction of the
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Bucky O'Connor by William MacLeod Raine: bulletin concerning the late governor will have the merit of
truth."
"Begad, excellency, I like your spirit. If it's my say-so, you
will live to be a hundred. Come the cards are against you. Some
other day they may fall more pat for you. But the jig's up now."
"I am very much of your opinion, sir," agreed Megales.
"Then why not make terms?"
"Such as--"
"Your life and your friends' lives against a graceful
capitulation."
"Our lives as prisoners or as free men?"
|
| 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: person!" And Andrea, gliding through the court like a black
shadow, rushed out through the wicket, leaving his comrades,
and even the keeper, lost in wonder. Certainly a call to the
visitors' room had scarcely astonished Andrea less than
themselves, for the wily youth, instead of making use of his
privilege of waiting to be claimed on his entry into La
Force, had maintained a rigid silence. "Everything," he
said, "proves me to be under the protection of some powerful
person, -- this sudden fortune, the facility with which I
have overcome all obstacles, an unexpected family and an
illustrious name awarded to me, gold showered down upon me,
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 Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: gimlet. His voice was so low; he always spoke suavely; he never flew
into a passion. His age was a problem; it was hard to say whether he
had grown old before his time, or whether by economy of youth he had
saved enough to last him his life.
"His room, and everything in it, from the green baize of the bureau to
the strip of carpet by the bed, was as clean and threadbare as the
chilly sanctuary of some elderly spinster who spends her days in
rubbing her furniture. In winter time, the live brands of the fire
smouldered all day in a bank of ashes; there was never any flame in
his grate. He went through his day, from his uprising to his evening
coughing-fit, with the regularity of a pendulum, and in some sort was
Gobseck |
