| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: the astute yet candid air which Charles Edward can assume when he
chooses, the lady rose, took the arm of her self-constituted escort,
and went downstairs, but on the threshold she stopped to speak to him.
" 'Monsieur, I like a joke----'
" 'And so do I.'
"She laughed.
" 'But this may turn to earnest,' he added; 'it only rests with you. I
am the Comte de la Palferine, and I am delighted that it is in my
power to lay my heart and my fortune at your feet.'
"La Palferine was at that time twenty-two years old. (This happened in
1834.) Luckily for him, he was fashionably dressed. I can paint his
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne: i n
Maledictus sit intus et exterius.
i n i
Maledictus sit in capillis; maledictus
n i n
sit in cerebro. Maledictus sit in vertice, in temporibus, in fronte, in
auriculis, in superciliis, in oculis, in genis, in maxillis, in naribus, in
dentibus, mordacibus, in labris sive molibus, in labiis, in guttere, in
humeris, in harnis, in brachiis, in manubus, in digitis, in pectore, in
corde, et in omnibus interioribus stomacho tenus, in renibus, in
inguinibus, in femore, in genitalibus, in coxis, in genubus, in cruribus,
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Passion in the Desert by Honore de Balzac: the day he had familiarized himself with his perilous position; he now
almost liked the painfulness of it. At last his companion had got into
the habit of looking up at him whenever he cried in a falsetto voice,
"Mignonne."
At the setting of the sun Mignonne gave, several times running, a
profound melancholy cry. "She's been well brought up," said the
lighthearted soldier; "she says her prayers." But this mental joke
only occurred to him when he noticed what a pacific attitude his
companion remained in. "Come, ma petite blonde, I'll let you go to bed
first," he said to her, counting on the activity of his own legs to
run away as quickly as possible, directly she was asleep, and seek
|
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 Tom Grogan by F. Hopkinson Smith: her husband, shut up in an asylum, make trouble for Jennie?
When the light faded and the trees grew indistinct in the gloom,
Tom still sat where Pop had left her. Soon the shadows fell in
the little valley, and the hill beyond the cedars lost itself in
the deepening haze that now crept in from the tranquil sea.
Carl's voice calling to Cully to take in the Gray roused her to
consciousness. She pushed back her chair, stood for an instant
watching Carl romping with Patsy, and then walked slowly toward
the stable.
By the time she reached the water-trough her old manner had
returned. Her step became once more elastic and firm; her strong
|
