| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: him, transient as they were, have been one of the sweetest comforts to
my poor heart, which has already suffered so much. Someday I will tell
you about our parting and all that was said then. That is still too
fresh. Ah, dear friend, you are happy not to know these poignant
joys and sorrows. You are fortunate, for the latter are generally
the stronger! I know very well that Count Nicholas is too young ever
to be more to me than a friend, but this sweet friendship, this poetic
and pure intimacy, were what my heart needed. But enough of this!
The chief news, about which all Moscow gossips, is the death of old
Count Bezukhov, and his inheritance. Fancy! The three princesses
have received very little, Prince Vasili nothing, and it is Monsieur
War and Peace |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: He groped for her hand, and, finding it, closed his
eyes with a faint sigh.
They bore him to a cot in an apartment next the
Queen's, and all that night the mother and the prom-
ised wife of the Outlaw of Torn sat bathing his fevered
forehead. The King's chirurgeon was there also, while
the King and De Montfort paced the corridor without.
And it is ever thus; whether in hovel or palace; in
the days of Moses, or in the days that be ours; the
lamb that has been lost and is found again be always
the best beloved.
The Outlaw of Torn |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy: on; "but it is better that I should not look too often
on you. It might be dangerous."
"Ssh!" said Tess.
"Well, women's faces have had too much power over me
already for me not to fear them! An evangelist has
nothing to do with such as they; and it reminds me of
the old times that I would forget!"
After this their conversation dwindled to a casual
remark now and then as they rambled onward, Tess
inwardly wondering how far he was going with her, and
not liking to send him back by positive mandate.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles, A Pure Woman |
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 Modeste Mignon by Honore de Balzac: overshadowed the glance of the eye, and added a physical sadness,--if
we may so call it,--produced by the droop of the lid over the eyeball.
This inward doubt or eclipse--which is put into language by the word
modesty--was expressed in his whole person. Perhaps we shall be able
to make his appearance better understood if we say that the logic of
design required greater length in the oval of his head, more space
between the chin, which ended abruptly, and the forehead, which was
reduced in height by the way in which the hair grew. The face had, in
short, a rather compressed appearance. Hard work had already drawn
furrows between the eyebrows, which were somewhat too thick and too
near together, like those of a jealous nature. Though La Briere was
Modeste Mignon |
