| 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: Thermidor. On the death of his mother, who died of the grief this
catastrophe occasioned, Jean sold all that he possessed and rushed to
Italy at the age of twenty-two, at the very moment when our armies
were beginning to yield. On the way he met a young man in the
department of Var, who for reasons analogous to his own was in search
of glory, believing a battle-field less perilous than his own
Provence. Charles Mignon, the last scion of an ancient family, which
gave its name to a street in Paris and to a mansion built by Cardinal
Mignon, had a shrewd and calculating father, whose one idea was to
save his feudal estate of La Bastie in the Comtat from the claws of
the Revolution. Like all timid folk of that day, the Comte de La
Modeste Mignon |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: few words with his brother, the First Consul made a sign with his
hand, which Murat and Lannes obeyed by retiring. Rapp pretended not to
have seen it, in order to remain where he was. Bonaparte then spoke to
him sharply, and the aide-de-camp, with evident unwillingness, left
the room. The First Consul, who listened for Rapp's step in the
adjoining salon, opened the door suddenly, and found his aide-de-camp
close to the wall of the cabinet.
"Do you choose not to understand me?" said the First Consul. "I wish
to be alone with my compatriot."
"A Corsican!" replied the aide-de-camp. "I distrust those fellows too
much to--"
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: that is only a matter of habit; if you get into the habit of being quick
it is just as easy as being slow; easier, I should say;
in fact it don't agree with my health to be hulking about over a job
twice as long as it need take. Bless you! I couldn't whistle
if I crawled over my work as some folks do! You see,
I have been about horses ever since I was twelve years old,
in hunting stables, and racing stables; and being small, ye see,
I was jockey for several years; but at the Goodwood, ye see,
the turf was very slippery and my poor Larkspur got a fall,
and I broke my knee, and so of course I was of no more use there.
But I could not live without horses, of course I couldn't,
|
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 A Lover's Complaint by William Shakespeare: 'My parts had pow'r to charm a sacred nun,
Who, disciplin'd and dieted in grace,
Believ'd her eyes when they t oassail begun,
All vows and consecrations giving place.
O most potential love! vow, bond, nor space,
In thee hath neither sting, knot, nor confine,
For thou art all, and all things else are thine.
'When thou impressest, what are precepts worth
Of stale example? When thou wilt inflame,
How coldly those impediments stand forth,
Of wealth, of filial fear, law, kindred, fame!
|
