| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley: "So do I," answered Cary, bluntly enough, and the four walked back
to the house, Lady Grenville taking everything for granted with the
most charming good humor, and chatting to her three silent
companions till they gained the terrace once more, and found four
or five of the gentlemen, with Sir Richard at their head,
proceeding to the bowling-green.
Lady Grenville, in an agony of fear about the quarrel which she
knew must come, would have gladly whispered five words to her
husband: but she dared not do it before the Spaniard, and dreaded,
too, a faint or a scream from the Rose, whose father was of the
party. So she walked on with her fair prisoner, commanding Cary to
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Study of a Woman by Honore de Balzac: blue flames which suddenly dart up and babble on the hearth. We
interpret as we please the strong, harsh tones of a "burgundian."
Here I must pause to put before all ignorant persons an explanation of
that word, derived from a very distinguished etymologist who wishes
his name kept secret.
"Burgundian" is the name given, since the reign of Charles VI., to
those noisy detonations, the result of which is to fling upon the
carpet or the clothes a little coal or ember, the trifling nucleus of
a conflagration. Heat or fire releases, they say, a bubble of air left
in the heart of the wood by a gnawing worm. "Inde amor, inde
burgundus." We tremble when we see the structure we had so carefully
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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 Octopus by Frank Norris: "How about that? Will you forget it? Will you--will--will you
LIKE me?"
She shook her head.
"No," she said.
"No what? You won't like me? Is that it?"
Hilma, blinking at the napkin through her tears, nodded to say,
Yes, that was it. Annixter hesitated a moment, frowning,
harassed and perplexed.
"You don't like me at all, hey?"
At length Hilma found her speech. In her low voice, lower and
more velvety than ever, she said:
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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 Master and Man by Leo Tolstoy: easy to see, since the wind blew in their faces.
Vasili Andreevich screwed up his eyes, bent down his head, and
looked out for the way-marks, but trusted mainly to the horse's
sagacity, letting it take its own way. And the horse really
did not lose the road but followed its windings, turning now to
the right and now to the left and sensing it under his feet, so
that though the snow fell thicker and the wind strengthened
they still continued to see way-marks now to the left and now
to the right of them.
So they travelled on for about ten minutes, when suddenly,
through the slanting screen of wind-driven snow, something
Master and Man |
