| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Muse of the Department by Honore de Balzac: eyeholes of their masks, gave each other a look that said, "If he
wakes, shall we kill him?"
" 'At that instant I put out my hand to take the glass of lemonade the
Spaniard had drunk of. He, thinking that I was about to take one of
the full glasses, sprang forward like a cat, and laid his long dagger
over the two poisoned goblets, leaving me his own, and signing to me
to drink what was left. So much was conveyed by this quick action, and
it was so full of good feeling, that I forgave him his atrocious
schemes for killing me, and thus burying every trace of this event.
" 'After two hours of care and alarms, the maid and I put her mistress
to bed. The lover, forced into so perilous an adventure, had, to
The Muse of the Department |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: time than it takes to tell it the whole was a heap of glowing
ashes, the mourners had departed, and the little street children
were stirring it up with long sticks.
The first three days after death, the spirit is supposed to visit
the different temples, going, as it were, from official court to
official court receiving judgment, and cards of merit or demerit
to take with it, for the deeds done in the body. On the third day
it returns to say farewell to the home, and then leaves for its
long journey, and all this paper furniture is sent on ahead.
They continue forty-nine days of prayers by the priests,
alternating three days by the Buddhists, three by the Lamas, and
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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 Ursula by Honore de Balzac: francs a year on the "grand-livre." Now, after twenty years' exercise
of a profession which his position as head of a hospital, physician to
the Emperor, and member of the Institute, rendered lucrative, these
fourteen thousand francs a year showed only one hundred and sixty
thousand francs laid by. To have saved only eight thousand francs a
year the doctor must have had either many vices or many virtues to
gratify. But neither his housekeeper nor Zelie nor any one else could
discover the reason for such moderate means. Minoret, who when he left
it was much regretted in the quarter of Paris where he had lived, was
one of the most benevolent of men, and, like Larrey, kept his kind
deeds a profound secret.
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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 The Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: 'In that case I was to place the matter in the hands of a lawyer.
Let me see,' said Mr Moss, opening a pocket-book with, perhaps,
suspicious care, at the right place--'Yes--of Mr Michael
Finsbury. A relation, perhaps? In that case, I presume, the
matter will be pleasantly arranged.'
To pass into the hands of Michael was too much for Morris. He
struck his colours. A cheque at two months was nothing, after
all. In two months he would probably be dead, or in a gaol at any
rate. He bade the manager give Mr Moss a chair and the paper.
'I'm going over to get a cheque signed by Mr Finsbury,' said he,
'who is lying ill at John Street.'
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