| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Europeans by Henry James: Gertrude sat musing, with her eyes upon the ripples.
"That was what he wanted to be; he wanted to do something fine."
"He won't be comfortable till he has married us," said Felix.
"So much the better."
"He wanted to be magnanimous; he wanted to have a fine moral pleasure.
I know him so well," Gertrude went on. Felix looked at her; she spoke slowly,
gazing at the clear water. "He thought of it a great deal, night and day.
He thought it would be beautiful. At last he made up his mind that it
was his duty, his duty to do just that--nothing less than that.
He felt exalted; he felt sublime. That 's how he likes to feel.
It is better for him than if I had listened to him."
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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 Gobseck by Honore de Balzac: gaming debts, and carriage-builders' accounts, money lost to Heaven
knows whom. My magician of a boon companion had impressed it upon me
that she was rich enough to make good these reverses by a few years of
economy. But only now did I begin to guess the reasons of his urgency.
I confess, to my shame, that I had not the shadow of a doubt but that
it was a matter of importance that Daddy Gobseck should make it up
with this dandy. I was dressing when the young gentleman appeared.
" 'M. le Comte,' said I, after the usual greetings, 'I fail to see why
you should need me to effect an introduction to Van Gobseck, the most
civil and smooth-spoken of capitalists. Money will be forthcoming if
he has any, or rather, if you can give him adequate security.'
 Gobseck |