| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Paz by Honore de Balzac: walls. Steinbock and Francois Souchet had designed the mantel-pieces
and the panels above the doors; Schinner had painted the ceilings in
his masterly manner. The beauties of the staircase, white as a woman's
arm, defied those of the hotel Rothschild. On account of the riots and
the unsettled times, the cost of this folly was only about eleven
hundred thousand francs,--to an Englishman a mere nothing. All this
luxury, called princely by persons who do not know what real princes
are, was built in the garden of the house of a purveyor made a Croesus
by the Revolution, who had escaped to Brussels and died there after
going into bankruptcy. The Englishman died in Paris, of Paris; for to
many persons Paris is a disease,--sometimes several diseases. His
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Wrecker by Stevenson & Osbourne: you,' you would say, and turn to and take it out of me straight."
On the 28th of January, when in lat. 27 degrees 20' N., long.
177 degrees W., the wind chopped suddenly into the west, not
very strong, but puffy and with flaws of rain. The captain,
eager for easting, made a fair wind of it and guyed the booms
out wing and wing. It was Tommy's trick at the wheel, and as
it was within half an hour of the relief (seven thirty in the
morning), the captain judged it not worth while to change him.
The puffs were heavy but short; there was nothing to be called
a squall, no danger to the ship, and scarce more than usual to
the doubtful spars. All hands were on deck in their oilskins,
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac: with every branch of literature, she might have made folks believe
that, as Mascarille says, people of quality come into the world
knowing everything. She could argue fluently on Italian or Flemish
painting, on the Middle Ages or the Renaissance; pronounced at
haphazard on books new or old, and could expose the defects of a work
with a cruelly graceful wit. The simplest thing she said was accepted
by an admiring crowd as a fetfah of the Sultan by the Turks. She thus
dazzled shallow persons; as to deeper minds, her natural tact enabled
her to discern them, and for them she put forth so much fascination
that, under cover of her charms, she escaped their scrutiny. This
enchanting veneer covered a careless heart; the opinion--common to
|
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 The Koran: will never be believers! but, verily, thy Lord He is mighty and
merciful.
And when thy Lord called Moses (saying), 'Come to the unjust people,
to the people of Pharaoh, will they not fear?' Said he, 'My Lord!
verily, I fear that they will call me liar; and my breast is
straitened, and my tongue is not fluent; send then unto Aaron, for
they have a crime against me, and I fear that they may kill me.'
Said He, 'Not so; but go with our signs, verily, we are with you
listening.
'And go to Pharaoh and say, "Verily, we are the apostles of the Lord
of the worlds (to tell thee to) send with us the children of Israel."'
The Koran |
