| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Two Brothers by Honore de Balzac: family roof.
At this conjuncture Philippe maintained his coolness. He won at first,
and gained as much as six thousand francs; but he let himself be
dazzled by the idea of getting out of his difficulties at one stroke.
He left the trente-et-quarante, hearing that the black had come up
sixteen times at the roulette table, and was about to put five
thousand francs on the red, when the black came up for the seventeenth
time. The colonel then put a thousand francs on the black and won. In
spite of this remarkable piece of luck, his head grew weary; he felt
it, though he continued to play. But that divining sense which leads a
gambler, and which comes in flashes, was already failing him.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: it in their hands admiring it and bargaining about it, he made a
sign quietly to the woman and then went back to the ship,
whereon she took me by the hand and led me out of the house. In
the fore part of the house she saw the tables set with the cups
of guests who had been feasting with my father, as being in
attendance on him; these were now all gone to a meeting of the
public assembly, so she snatched up three cups and carried them
off in the bosom of her dress, while I followed her, for I knew
no better. The sun was now set, and darkness was over all the
land, so we hurried on as fast as we could till we reached the
harbour, where the Phoenician ship was lying. When they had got
The Odyssey |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Charmides by Plato: (Greek), etc., which Cicero avoided in Latin (de Amicit), the frequent
occurrence of expletives, would, if reproduced in a translation, give
offence to the reader. Greek has a freer and more frequent use of the
Interrogative, and is of a more passionate and emotional character, and
therefore lends itself with greater readiness to the dialogue form. Most
of the so-called English Dialogues are but poor imitations of Plato, which
fall very far short of the original. The breath of conversation, the
subtle adjustment of question and answer, the lively play of fancy, the
power of drawing characters, are wanting in them. But the Platonic
dialogue is a drama as well as a dialogue, of which Socrates is the central
figure, and there are lesser performers as well:--the insolence of
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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 Street of Seven Stars by Mary Roberts Rinehart: early still."
He replied in English. It was a curious way they had, and
eminently satisfactory, each understanding better than he spoke
the other's language.
"Because, my beloved," he said lightly, "you are smoking a great
many poisonous and highly expensive cigarettes. Also I wish to
speak to Peter."
The girl followed his eyes and stiffened jealously.
"Who is that with Peter?"
"We are going over to find out, little one. Old Peter with a
woman at last!"
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