| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Virginibus Puerisque by Robert Louis Stevenson: effective part in the affairs of life, that we need to
entertain no longer the question of our right to be.
And so in the majority of cases, a man who fancies
himself dying, will get cold comfort from the very youthful
view expressed in this essay. He, as a living man, has some
to help, some to love, some to correct; it may be, some to
punish. These duties cling, not upon humanity, but upon the
man himself. It is he, not another, who is one woman's son
and a second woman's husband and a third woman's father. That
life which began so small, has now grown, with a myriad
filaments, into the lives of others. It is not indispensable;
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Heroes by Charles Kingsley: PART V - HOW PERSEUS CAME HOME AGAIN
AND when a year was ended Perseus hired Phoenicians from
Tyre, and cut down cedars, and built himself a noble galley;
and painted its cheeks with vermilion, and pitched its sides
with pitch; and in it he put Andromeda, and all her dowry of
jewels, and rich shawls, and spices from the East; and great
was the weeping when they rowed away. But the remembrance of
his brave deed was left behind; and Andromeda's rock was
shown at Iopa in Palestine till more than a thousand years
were past.
So Perseus and the Phoenicians rowed to the westward, across
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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 The Duchesse de Langeais by Honore de Balzac: "I only want you to understand that these remarks might leave a
wrong impression on a young woman's mind," said she, and
interrupted herself to exclaim, "But this niece, this niece of
mine!"
"Dear aunt, I still refuse to believe that she can have gone to
M. de Montriveau," said the Duc de Navarreins.
"Bah!" returned the Princess.
"What do you think, Vidame?" asked the Marquis.
"If the Duchess were an artless simpleton, I should think
that----"
"But when a woman is in love she becomes an artless simpleton,"
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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 A Man of Business by Honore de Balzac: ground is a certain Count, now busy ranging himself. In his time, he
was supposed to be the cleverest, adroitest, canniest, boldest,
stoutest, most subtle and experienced of all the pirates, who,
equipped with fine manners, yellow kid gloves, and cabs, have ever
sailed or ever will sail upon the stormy seas of Paris. He fears
neither God nor man. He applies in private life the principles that
guide the English Cabinet. Up to the time of his marriage, his life
was one continual war, like--Lousteau's, for instance. I was, and am
still his solicitor."
"And the first letter of his name is Maxime de Trailles," said La
Palferine.
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