| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from An Episode Under the Terror by Honore de Balzac: "That is blood!" exclaimed the priest.
"It is marked with a royal crown!" cried Sister Agathe.
The women, aghast, allowed the precious relic to fall. For their
simple souls the mystery that hung about the stranger grew
inexplicable; as for the priest, from that day forth he did not even
try to understand it.
Before very long the prisoners knew that, in spite of the Terror, some
powerful hand was extended over them. It began when they received
firewood and provisions; and next the Sisters knew that a woman had
lent counsel to their protector, for linen was sent to them, and
clothes in which they could leave the house without causing remark
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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 Prince Otto by Robert Louis Stevenson: had been the prize to tempt me! She invites, as Mexico invited
Cortez; the enterprise is hard, the natives are unfriendly - I
believe them cruel too - but the metropolis is paved with gold and
the breeze blows out of paradise. Yes, I could desire to be that
conqueror. But to philander with von Rosen! never! Senses? I
discard them; what are they? - pruritus! Curiosity? Reach me my
Anatomy!'
'To whom do you address yourself?' cried Otto. 'Surely you, of all
men, know that I love my wife!'
'O, love!' cried Gotthold; 'love is a great word; it is in all the
dictionaries. If you had loved, she would have paid you back. What
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