| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Rescue by Joseph Conrad: Mrs. Travers had not spoiled Lingard a little. Yet in the
suddenness of the forced association, where, too, d'Alcacer was
sure there was some moral problem in the background, he
recognized the extreme difficulty of weighing accurately the
imperious demands against the necessary reservations, the exact
proportions of boldness and caution. And d'Alcacer admired upon
the whole Mrs. Travers' cleverness.
There could be no doubt that she had the situation in her hands.
That, of course, did not mean safety. She had it in her hands as
one may hold some highly explosive and uncertain compound.
D'Alcacer thought of her with profound sympathy and with a quite
The Rescue |
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 Sarrasine by Honore de Balzac: meaningless words to me, as to you. I shall never cease to think of
that imaginary woman when I see a real woman.'
"He pointed to the statue with a gesture of despair.
" 'I shall always have in my memory a divine harpy who will bury her
talons in all my manly sentiments, and who will stamp all other women
with a seal of imperfection. Monster! you, who can give life to
nothing, have swept all women off the face of the earth.'
"Sarrasine seated himself in front of the terrified singer. Two great
tears came from his dry eyes, rolled down his swarthy cheeks, and fell
to the floor--two tears of rage, two scalding, burning tears.
" 'An end of love! I am dead to all pleasure, to all human emotions!'
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