| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne: breath, with deeper marks of disappointment in his looks than could
arise from the simple irreparability of the fragment. JUSTE CIEL!
in less than two minutes that the poor fellow had taken his last
tender farewell of her - his faithless mistress had given his GAGE
D'AMOUR to one of the Count's footmen, - the footman to a young
sempstress, - and the sempstress to a fiddler, with my fragment at
the end of it. - Our misfortunes were involved together: - I gave a
sigh, - and La Fleur echoed it back again to my ear.
- How perfidious! cried La Fleur. - How unlucky! said I.
- I should not have been mortified, Monsieur, quoth La Fleur, if
she had lost it. - Nor I, La Fleur, said I, had I found it.
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Drama on the Seashore by Honore de Balzac: me, and go fishing, and behave like an honest man, you and I will have
a reckoning.'
"The crazy fellow, counting on his parent's folly, made a face; on
which Pierre struck him a blow which sent Jacques to his bed for six
weeks. The poor mother nearly died of grief. One night, as she was
fast asleep beside her husband, a noise awoke her; she rose up
quickly, and was stabbed in the arm with a knife. She cried out loud,
and when Pierre Cambremer struck a light and saw his wife wounded, he
thought it was the doing of robbers,--as if we ever had any in these
parts, where you might carry ten thousand francs in gold from Croisic
to Saint-Nazaire without ever being asked what you had in your arms.
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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 Anabasis by Xenophon: take the throne from Artaxerxes, and the ensuing
return of the Greeks, in which Xenophon played a
leading role. This occurred between 401 B.C. and
March 399 B.C.
PREPARER'S NOTE
This was typed from Dakyns' series, "The Works of Xenophon," a
four-volume set. The complete list of Xenophon's works (though
there is doubt about some of these) is:
Work Number of books
The Anabasis 7
The Hellenica 7
Anabasis |
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 Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honore de Balzac: special cases,--when, for instance, a swindler is to be dispossessed
and a coalition among the creditors agreed upon, when there is
difference of opinion between the privileged creditors and the
unsecured creditors, or when the /concordat/ is specially dishonest,
and the bankrupt is in need of a deceptive majority. But in the case
of a failure when all has been given up, the meeting is a mere
formality. Pillerault went to each creditor, one after the other, and
asked him to give his proxy to his attorney. Every creditor, except du
Tillet, sincerely pitied Cesar, after striking him down. Each knew
that his conduct was scrupulously honest, that his books were regular,
and his business as clear as the day. All were pleased to find no "gay
Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau |
