| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: excellent. Yes, she said, this was Mr. Hyde's, but he was not at
home; he had been in that night very late, but he had gone away
again in less than an hour; there was nothing strange in that; his
habits were very irregular, and he was often absent; for instance,
it was nearly two months since she had seen him till yesterday.
"Very well, then, we wish to see his rooms," said the lawyer;
and when the woman began to declare it was impossible, "I had
better tell you who this person is," he added. "This is Inspector
Newcomen of Scotland Yard."
A flash of odious joy appeared upon the woman's face. "Ah!"
said she, "he is in trouble! What has he done?"
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Marriage Contract by Honore de Balzac: I say that object should be the joys of family. Moreover, in this case
--I am afraid you will think me too much of notary--your marriage
contract made it incumbent upon you to have a son. Yes, monsieur le
comte, you ought to have had at once a male heir to consolidate that
entail. Why not? Madame Evangelista was strong and healthy; she had
nothing to fear in maternity. You will tell me, perhaps, that these
are the old-fashioned notions of our ancestors. But in those noble
families, Monsieur le comte, the legitimate wife thought it her duty
to bear children and bring them up nobly; as the Duchesse de Sully,
the wife of the great Sully, said, a wife is not an instrument of
pleasure, but the honor and virtue of her household."
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Danny's Own Story by Don Marquis: "Yo' don't need to know what that is. HE
will." And then Bud told me enough of the signs
and words to say, and things to do, to keep Beaure-
gard from shooting--he said he reckoned he had
trusted me so much he might as well go the hull
hog. Beauregard, he says, belongs to them riders
too; they have friends in all the towns that watches
the lay of the land fur them, he says.
I made a long half-circle around them burning
buildings, keeping in the dark, fur people was
coming out in bunches, now that it was all over
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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: door of an apartment on the first floor.
"Is my aunt at home?" he inquired of the Negro who opened it. Then he
followed the man, and was presently ushered into a salon where the
Negro announced,--
"Monsieur de Saint-Esteve."
The salon which the famous chief of the detective police now entered
was remarkable for the luxury, but still more for the horribly bad
taste, of its appointments. Three women of advanced age were seated
round a card-table earnestly employed in a game of dominoes. Three
glasses and an empty silver bowl which gave forth a vinous odor showed
that the worship of double-sixes was not without its due libations.
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