| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac: As he spoke there was a footstep on the staircase, and a young
woman hastened up, panting for breath.
"She has come too late," said Rastignac.
But it was not Delphine; it was Therese, her waiting-woman, who
stood in the doorway.
"Monsieur Eugene," she said, "monsieur and madame have had a
terrible scene about some money that Madame (poor thing!) wanted
for her father. She fainted, and the doctor came, and she had to
be bled, calling out all the while, 'My father is dying; I want
to see papa!' It was heartbreaking to hear her----"
"That will do, Therese. If she came now, it would be trouble
Father Goriot |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: the restless, bewildering multitude of strange faces turned
towards him recognized those that he knew: the Prince of Wales,
his companions of the Scotland Yard household, the Duke of
Clarence, the Bishop of Winchester, and some of the noblemen of
the Earl of Mackworth's party, who had been buzzing about the
Prince for the past month or so. But his glance swept over all
these, rather perceiving than seeing them, and then rested upon a
square box-like compartment not unlike a prisoner's dock in the
courtroom of our day, for in the box sat his father, with the
Earl of Mackworth upon one side and Sir James Lee upon the other.
The blind man's face was very pale, but still wore its usual
Men of Iron |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Poor and Proud by Oliver Optic: ever have any weight.
The next house to Mrs. Redburn was tenanted by Mr. Sneed, the
mason. I don't know whether I ought to say that Mr. Sneed had a
son, or that Master Simon Sneed had a father, being at a loss to
determine which was the more important personage of the two; but
I am not going to say anything against either of them, for the
father was a very honest mason and the son was a very nice young
man.
Katy knocked at the door of this house, and inquired for Master
Simon Sneed. She was informed that he had not yet finished his
dinner; and she decided to wait in the court till he made his
|
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 Fantastic Fables by Ambrose Bierce: The Wolf and the Babe
The Wolf and the Ostrich
The Herdsman and the Lion
The Man and the Viper
The Man and the Eagle
The War-horse and the Miller
The Dog and the Reflection
The Man and the Fish-horn
The Hare and the Tortoise
Hercules and the Carter
The Lion and the Bull
Fantastic Fables |
