| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Modeste Mignon by Honore de Balzac: what would have become of me? Shall I take you into the recesses
of my soul? I should have gone to my father and said, "Bring me
the son-in-law whom you desire; my will abdicates,--marry me to
whom you please." And the man might have been a notary, banker,
miser, fool, dullard, wearisome as a rainy day, common as the
usher of a school, a manufacturer, or some brave soldier without
two ideas,--he would have had a resigned and attentive servant in
me. But what an awful suicide! never could my soul have expanded
in the life-giving rays of a beloved sun. No murmur should have
revealed to my father, or my mother, or my children the suicide of
the creature who at this instant is shaking her fetters, casting
Modeste Mignon |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Wheels of Chance by H. G. Wells: corner from the Temperance Hotel. At the sight of Bechamel, his
heart jumped, and the tension of his angry suspense exploded
into, rather than gave place to, an excited activity of mind.
They were at the Vicuna, and she was there now alone. It was the
occasion he sought. But he would give Chance no chance against
him. He went back round the corner, sat down on the seat, and
watched Bechamel recede into the dimness up the esplanade, before
he got up and walked into the hotel entrance. "A lady cyclist in
grey," he asked for, and followed boldly on the waiter's heels.
The door of the dining-room was opening before he felt a qualm.
And then suddenly he was nearly minded to turn and run for it,
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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 The Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske: the former question that we are so curious about the latter. If
we could dissociate ourselves from the material universe, our
habitat, we should probably speculate much less about its past
and future. We care very little what becomes of the black ball of
the earth, after all life has vanished from its surface; or, if
we care at all about it, it is only because our thoughts about
the career of the earth are necessarily mixed up with our
thoughts about life. Hence in considering the probable ultimate
destiny of the physical universe, our innermost purpose must be
to know what is to become of all this rich and wonderful life of
which the physical universe is the theatre. Has it all been
The Unseen World and Other Essays |
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 Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: Comedie Francaise, and to show the world how superior is the art of
the improviser to that of the actor who depends upon an author for
what he shall say, and who consequently says always the same thing
every time that he plays in the same piece.
It is an audacious bill, and its audacity had scared M. Binet out
of the little sense left him by the Burgundy which in these days he
could afford to abuse. He had offered the most vehement opposition.
Part of this Andre-Louis had swept aside; part he had disregarded.
"I admit that it is audacious," said Scaramouche. "But at your time
of life you should have learnt that in this world nothing succeeds
like audacity."
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