| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Man of Business by Honore de Balzac: it. It is only fit for a widow that wishes to keep body and soul
together, or for some hideously ugly thing that fancies she can catch
a husband with a little finery.'
" 'It was your own choice,' returned the Count. Just at that moment,
in came Nucingen, of whom Maxime, king of lions (the 'yellow kid
gloves' were the lions of that day) had won three thousand francs the
evening before. Nucingen had come to pay his gaming debt.
" 'Ein writ of attachment haf shoost peen served on me by der order of
dot teufel Glabaron,' he said, seeing Maxime's astonishment.
" 'Oh, so that is how they are going to work, is it?' cried Maxime.
'They are not up to much, that pair--'
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Battle of the Books by Jonathan Swift: tiger from the mountains, or a furious boar; if chance a wild ass,
with brayings importune, affronts his ear, the generous beast,
though loathing to distain his claws with blood so vile, yet, much
provoked at the offensive noise, which Echo, foolish nymph, like
her ill-judging sex, repeats much louder, and with more delight
than Philomela's song, he vindicates the honour of the forest, and
hunts the noisy long-eared animal. So Wotton fled, so Boyle
pursued. But Wotton, heavy-armed, and slow of foot, began to slack
his course, when his lover Bentley appeared, returning laden with
the spoils of the two sleeping Ancients. Boyle observed him well,
and soon discovering the helmet and shield of Phalaris his friend,
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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 Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: little encouragement as we give him. More than once people have
twitted me with it. There's the Wilsons, and the Wilcoxes, and the
Harknesses, they take a mean pleasure in saying 'YOUR FRIEND
Burgess,' because they know it pesters me. I wish he wouldn't
persist in liking us so; I can't think why he keeps it up."
"I can explain it. It's another confession. When the thing was new
and hot, and the town made a plan to ride him on a rail, my
conscience hurt me so that I couldn't stand it, and I went privately
and gave him notice, and he got out of the town and stayed out till
it was safe to come back."
"Edward! If the town had found it out--"
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
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 Bucky O'Connor by William MacLeod Raine: as completely as if the earth had swallowed them up. Our cook,
too, left with him that evil night."
"Your cook?" It was the second comment Bucky had ventured, and it
came incisively. "What manner of man was he?"
"A huge, lumbering braggart. I could never understand why Dave
took the man with him."
"If he did."
"But I tell you he did. They disappeared the same night, and the
trail showed they went the same road. We followed them for about
an hour next day, but a heavy rain came up and blotted out the
tracks."
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