| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Marriage Contract by Honore de Balzac: We must pacify her."
Calmed by this first outburst, madame kept the necklace and ear-rings,
which she was wearing, and brought the other jewels, valued at one
hundred and fifty thousand francs by Elie Magus. Accustomed to the
sight of family diamonds in all valuations of inheritance, Maitre
Mathias and Solonet examined these jewels in their cases and exclaimed
upon their duty.
"You will lose nothing, after all, upon the 'dot,' Monsieur le comte,"
said Solonet, bringing the color to Paul's face.
"Yes," said Mathias, "these jewels will meet the first payment on the
purchase of the new estate."
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Red Inn by Honore de Balzac: The division was to march on the following morning, and the
commanding-officer did not wish to leave Andernach without inquiry
into the crime on the spot where it had been committed. I remained in
the utmost anxiety during the time the council lasted. At last, about
mid-day, Prosper Magnan was brought back. I was then taking my usual
walk; he saw me, and came and threw himself into my arms.
"Lost!" he said, "lost, without hope! Here, to all the world, I am a
murderer." He raised his head proudly. "This injustice restores to me
my innocence. My life would always have been wretched; my death leaves
me without reproach. But is there a future?"
The whole eighteenth century was in that sudden question. He remained
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The School For Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan: or his varying use of EXIT and EX., or his inconsistencies in
the use of italics in the stage-directions. Since, however,
Sheridan's biographers, from Moore to Fraser Rae, have shown that
no authorised or correct edition of THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL was
published in Sheridan's lifetime, there seems unusual justification
for reproducing the text of the play itself with absolute fidelity
to the original manuscript. Mr. Ridgway, who repeatedly sought to
obtain a copy corrected by the author, according to Moore's account
(LIFE OF SHERIDAN, I. p. 260), "was told by Mr. Sheridan, as an
excuse for keeping it back, that he had been nineteen years
endeavouring to satisfy himself with the style of The School for
|
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 Dust by Mr. And Mrs. Haldeman-Julius: making trips to and from the barrel which contained shorts mixed
with water' skimmed milk and house slops, the screaming,
scrambling shoats gulping the pork-making mixture as rapidly as
he could fetch it. He worked unconsciously, thinking, typically,
not of Rose's reaction to this new life, but of what it held in
store for himself.
He glanced toward the shack. Already the mere fact of a woman's
presence beneath its roof seemed, to him, to give it a different
aspect. Through the open door he observed that Rose was sweeping.
How he had always hated the thought of any one handling what was
his! He dumped another bucket of slops into the home-made trough.
|
