| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: island; that they thought they had set him on shore in a barren,
uninhabited island; but it had pleased God so to direct them that
it was inhabited, and that the governor was an Englishman; that he
might hang them all there, if he pleased; but as he had given them
all quarter, he supposed he would send them to England, to be dealt
with there as justice required, except Atkins, whom he was
commanded by the governor to advise to prepare for death, for that
he would be hanged in the morning.
Though this was all but a fiction of his own, yet it had its
desired effect; Atkins fell upon his knees to beg the captain to
intercede with the governor for his life; and all the rest begged
Robinson Crusoe |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Cousin Betty by Honore de Balzac: After seeing his wife into a carriage with his daughter and his son-
in-law, Hulot managed to escape unperceived, leaving his son and
Celestine to do the honors of the house. He got into Madame Marneffe's
carriage to see her home, but he found her silent and pensive, almost
melancholy.
"My happiness makes you very sad, Valerie," said he, putting his arm
round her and drawing her to him.
"Can you wonder, my dear," said she, "that a hapless woman should be a
little depressed at the thought of her first fall from virtue, even
when her husband's atrocities have set her free? Do you suppose that I
have no soul, no beliefs, no religion? Your glee this evening has been
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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 Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan by Honore de Balzac: listener may not remember precisely what they said, their end has been
completely attained,--which is the object of all eloquence. The
princess might at that moment have been wearing the diadem of France,
and her brow could not have seemed more imposing than it was beneath
that crown of golden hair, braided like a coronet, and adorned with
heather. She was simple and calm; nothing betrayed a sense of any
necessity to appear so, nor any desire to seem grand or loving.
D'Arthez, the solitary toiler, to whom the ways of the world were
unknown, whom study had wrapped in its protecting veils, was the dupe
of her tones and words. He was under the spell of those exquisite
manners; he admired that perfect beauty, ripened by misfortune, placid
|
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 She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith: keeping them for you. So if I say they're gone, you'll bear me
witness, will you? He! he! he!
TONY. Never fear me. Ecod! I'll say I saw them taken out with my own
eyes.
MISS NEVILLE. I desire them but for a day, madam. Just to be
permitted to show them as relics, and then they may be locked up
again.
MRS. HARDCASTLE. To be plain with you, my dear Constance, if I could
find them you should have them. They're missing, I assure you. Lost,
for aught I know; but we must have patience wherever they are.
MISS NEVILLE. I'll not believe it! this is but a shallow pretence to
She Stoops to Conquer |
