| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Albert Savarus by Honore de Balzac: was deepest close under the roadway. The men had the greatest
difficulty in enabling the Baron to catch hold of a pole pushed down
at the place where the water was bubbling, but at last they pulled him
out, covered with mud, in which he had sunk; he was getting deeper and
deeper in, by dint of struggling. Monsieur de Watteville had dined
heavily, digestion was in progress, and was thus checked.
When he had been undressed, washed, and put to bed, he was in such
evident danger that two servants at once set out on horseback: one to
ride to Besancon, and the other to fetch the nearest doctor and
surgeon. When Madame de Watteville arrived, eight hours later, with
the first medical aid from Besancon, they found Monsieur de Watteville
Albert Savarus |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The American by Henry James: which at times, I confess, has seemed to me--shall I say it?--
almost cynical. Your way at any rate is not my way, and it
is unwise that we should attempt any longer to pull together.
And yet, let me add that I know there is a great deal to be said
for your way; I have felt its attraction, in your society,
very strongly. But for this I should have left you long ago.
But I was so perplexed. I hope I have not done wrong.
I feel as if I had a great deal of lost time to make up.
I beg you take all this as I mean it, which, Heaven knows,
is not invidiously. I have a great personal esteem for you
and hope that some day, when I have recovered my balance, we shall
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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 Reminiscences of Tolstoy by Leo Tolstoy: What did it matter to a boy of seven what his father was writing?
It was only later, when one kept hearing the name again and
again, and bundles of proofs kept arriving, and were sent off
almost every day, that I understood that "Anna Karénina"
was the name of the novel on which my father and mother were both
at work.
My mother's work seemed much harder than my father's,
because we actually saw her at it, and she worked much longer
hours than he did. She used to sit in the sitting-room off the
zala, at her little writing-table, and spend all her free
time writing.
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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 Republic by Plato: themselves; they make no sacrifices for the sake of knowledge; their minds,
like their bodies, at a certain age become fixed. Genius has been defined
as 'the power of taking pains'; but hardly any one keeps up his interest in
knowledge throughout a whole life. The troubles of a family, the business
of making money, the demands of a profession destroy the elasticity of the
mind. The waxen tablet of the memory which was once capable of receiving
'true thoughts and clear impressions' becomes hard and crowded; there is
not room for the accumulations of a long life (Theaet.). The student, as
years advance, rather makes an exchange of knowledge than adds to his
stores. There is no pressing necessity to learn; the stock of Classics or
History or Natural Science which was enough for a man at twenty-five is
The Republic |
