| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: Touraine and its neighborhood. The owner of the estate gives the
house, farm-buildings, and seed-grain to tenants-at-will, with whom he
divides the costs of cultivation and the crops. This division is
superintended by an agent or bailiff, whose business it is to take the
share belonging to the owner; a costly system, complicated by the
market changes of values, which alter the character of the shares
constantly. The countess had induced Monsieur de Mortsauf to cultivate
a fifth farm, made up of the reserved lands about Clochegourde, as
much to occupy his mind as to show other farmers the excellence of the
new method by the evidence of facts. Being thus, in a hidden way, the
mistress of the estate, she had slowly and with a woman's persistency
The Lily of the Valley |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: irritation. 'I call it simply indecent,' he had said. 'Mark my
words--we shall hear of him next at the North Pole.' And these
bitter expressions had been reported to the traveller on his
return. What was worse, Masterman had refused to attend the
lecture on 'Education: Its Aims, Objects, Purposes, and
Desirability', although invited to the platform. Since then the
brothers had not met. On the other hand, they never had openly
quarrelled; Joseph (by Morris's orders) was prepared to waive the
advantage of his juniority; Masterman had enjoyed all through
life the reputation of a man neither greedy nor unfair. Here,
then, were all the elements of compromise assembled; and Morris,
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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 House of Dust by Conrad Aiken: VI. ADELE AND DAVIS
She turned her head on the pillow, and cried once more.
And drawing a shaken breath, and closing her eyes,
To shut out, if she could, this dingy room,
The wigs and costumes scattered around the floor,--
Yellows and greens in the dark,--she walked again
Those nightmare streets which she had walked so often . . .
Here, at a certain corner, under an arc-lamp,
Blown by a bitter wind, she stopped and looked
In through the brilliant windows of a drug-store,
And wondered if she dared to ask for poison:
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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 A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne: of us have felt in our turns, came in.
MONTREUIL.
I AM apt to be taken with all kinds of people at first sight; but
never more so than when a poor devil comes to offer his service to
so poor a devil as myself; and as I know this weakness, I always
suffer my judgment to draw back something on that very account, -
and this more or less, according to the mood I am in, and the case;
- and I may add, the gender too, of the person I am to govern.
When La Fleur entered the room, after every discount I could make
for my soul, the genuine look and air of the fellow determined the
matter at once in his favour; so I hired him first, - and then
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