The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: persisted.
Mrs. Black hesitated. "It shan't begin, I promise you that; I'll
send word to the builder this very night." Mrs. Manstey
tightened her hold.
"You are not deceiving me, are you?" she said.
"No--no," stammered Mrs. Black. "How can you think such a thing
of me, Mrs. Manstey?"
Slowly Mrs. Manstey's clutch relaxed, and she passed through the
open door. "One thousand dollars," she repeated, pausing in the
hall; then she let herself out of the house and hobbled down the
steps, supporting herself on the cast-iron railing.
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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 The Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: l'Estorade himself, I was, I confess, so annoyed at seeing the
careless manner in which he made himself the echo of a calumny against
which I felt he ought rather to have defended me that I did not
/deign/ to make any explanation to him. I now withdraw that word, but
it was then the true expression of a displeasure keenly felt.
In the course of my electoral contest, I have been obliged to make
public the justification I did not make to you; and I have had the
satisfaction of finding that men in masses are more capable than
individuals of understanding generous impulses and of distinguishing
the honest language of truth. Here are the facts which I related, but
more briefly and with less detail, to my electors.
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