| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: "I had scarcely spoken before hurried footsteps sounded from the
passage. The stranger stopped at Gobseck's door and rapped; there was
that in the knock which suggested a man transported with rage. Gobseck
reconnoitred him through the grating; then he opened the door, and in
came a man of thirty-five or so, judged harmless apparently in spite
of his anger. The newcomer, who was quite plainly dressed, bore a
strong resemblance to the late Duc de Richelieu. You must often have
met him, he was the Countess' husband, a man with the aristocratic
figure (permit the expression to pass) peculiar to statesmen of your
faubourg.
" 'Sir,' said this person, addressing himself to Gobseck, who had
Gobseck |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: might have come quietly to the door of his home, and smiled
round upon the familiar faces. But, indeed, since there was no
hope of regaining the friends of his boyhood, or ever seeing
his dear sister again, Cadmus resolved to make himself happy
with these new companions, who had grown so fond of him while
following the cow.
"Yes, my friends," said he to them, "this is to be our home.
Here we will build our habitations. The brindled cow, which has
led us hither, will supply us with milk. We will cultivate the
neighboring soil. and lead an innocent and happy life."
His companions joyfully assented to this plan; and, in the
Tanglewood Tales |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Firm of Nucingen by Honore de Balzac: people expected of them on the occasion of the wedding; Delphine's
present to the bride was a charming set of rubies. Isaure danced, a
happy wife, a girl no longer. The little Baroness was more than ever a
Shepherdess of the Alps. The ball was at its height when Malvina, the
Andalouse of Musset's poem, heard du Tillet's voice drily advising her
to take Desroches. Desroches, warmed to the right degree by Rastignac
and Nucingen, tried to come to an understanding financially; but at
the first hint of shares in the mines for the bride's portion, he
broke off and went back to the Matifat's in the Rue du Cherche-Midi,
only to find the accursed canal shares which Gigonnet had foisted on
Matifat in lieu of cash.
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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 Catherine de Medici by Honore de Balzac: of to-day, there was indeed cause to tremble for this young man,--the
hope of two families,--thrust between those powerful and pitiless
machines, Catherine and the Guises. But do courageous beings, as a
rule, measure the full extent of their dangers? By the way in which
the port of Blois, the chateau, and the town were guarded, Christophe
was prepared to find spies and traps everywhere; and he therefore
resolved to conceal the importance of his mission and the tension of
his mind under the empty-headed and shopkeeping appearance with which
he presented himself to the eyes of young Pardaillan, the officer of
the guard, and the Scottish captain.
The agitation which, in a royal castle, always attends the hour of the
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