| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Copy-Cat & Other Stories by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: "You don't mean to tell me you are as stingy as
that, Arnold Carruth?"
"I guess papa wouldn't like it."
"Of course he wouldn't. But that is not the point.
It is not what your father would like; it is what that
poor old lady would like."
It was too much for Arnold. He gaped at
Johnny.
"If you are going to be mean and stingy, we may
as well stop before we begin," said Johnny.
Then Arnold Carruth recovered himself. "Old
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: so nearly sunset that the chamber had grown duskier than ever;
but a mild and moonlike splendor gleamed from within the vase,
and rested alike on the four guests and on the doctor's venerable
figure. He sat in a high-backed, elaborately-carved, oaken
arm-chair, with a gray dignity of aspect that might have well
befitted that very Father Time, whose power had never been
disputed, save by this fortunate company. Even while quaffing the
third draught of the Fountain of Youth, they were almost awed by
the expression of his mysterious visage.
But, the next moment, the exhilarating gush of young life shot
through their veins. They were now in the happy prime of youth.
Twice Told Tales |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: " 'You are quite capable of leaving me the debts and taking the
property.'
" 'Oh! is that the way you take it?' retorted she. 'I have nothing
more to say to you; such a speech stops my mouth.'
"Whereupon du Bruel poured out his soul in excuses and protestations
of love. Not a word did she say. He took her hands, she allowed him to
take them; they were like ice, like a dead woman's hands. Tullia, you
can understand, was playing to admiration the part of corpse that
women can play to show you that they refuse their consent to anything
and everything; that for you they are suppressing soul, spirit, and
life, and regard themselves as beasts of burden. Nothing so provokes a
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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 Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: which happened in another; and several times already in the course of
the Comedy of Human Life, this means has been employed in spite of its
disadvantages, which consist chiefly in making the frame of as much
importance as the canvas.
Toward the end of the month of April, 1839, about ten o'clock in the
morning, the salon of Madame Marion, widow of a former receiver-
general of the department of the Aube, presented a singular
appearance. All the furniture had been removed except the curtains to
the windows, the ornaments on the fireplace, the chandelier, and the
tea-table. An Aubusson carpet, taken up two weeks before the usual
time, obstructed the steps of the portico, and the floor had been
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