| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Juag returned, and the two of us leaped in when an
opening afforded the opportunity and snatched our
javelins from his side. Then we danced about him,
more like two savages than anything else, until we
got the opening we were looking for, when simulta-
neously, our javelins pierced his wild heart, stilling
it forever.
The thag had covered considerable ground from the
point at which I had leaped upon him. When, after
despatching him, I looked back for Dian, I could see
nothing of her. I called aloud, but receiving no reply,
Pellucidar |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: special talent for imitating old paintings, took up the business of
copying, and soon found many customers among the picture-dealers.
Luigi, on his side, sought long and actively for occupation, but it
was hard for a young officer whose talents had been restricted to the
study of strategy to find anything to do in Paris.
At last, weary of vain efforts, his soul filled with despair at seeing
the whole burden of their subsistence falling on Ginevra, it occurred
to him to make use of his handwriting, which was excellent. With a
persistency of which he saw an example in his wife, he went round
among the layers and notaries of Paris, asking for papers to copy. The
frankness of his manners and his situation interested many in his
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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 Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: paused to look at it. "Madame," being told of the patient life of the
poor Breton, became enthusiastic over him. The Duc d'Orleans asked the
price of the picture. The clergy told Madame la Dauphine that the
subject was suggestive of good thoughts; and there was, in truth, a
most satisfying religious tone about it. Monseigneur the Dauphin
admired the dust on the stone-floor,--a huge blunder, by the way, for
Fougeres had painted greenish tones suggestive of mildew along the
base of the walls. "Madame" finally bought the picture for a thousand
francs, and the Dauphin ordered another like it. Charles X. gave the
cross of the Legion of honor to this son of a peasant who had fought
for the royal cause in 1799. (Joseph Bridau, the great painter, was
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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 Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: into his case, he did not behave like an ordinary
convict. He was very absent-minded, hardly list-
ening to the questions; but when he heard what
was asked, he answered truthfully, causing the
utmost perplexity to the magistrate, who, accus-
tomed as he was to the necessity of being very
clever and very cunning with convicts, felt a
strange sensation just as if he were lifting up his
foot to ascend a step and found none. Stepan
told him the story of all his murders; and did it
frowning, with a set look, in a quiet, businesslike
The Forged Coupon |
