| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Alkahest by Honore de Balzac: Resolved not to undergo it a second time, she withdrew more and more
into the privacy of her own house, now deserted by society and even by
her nearest friends.
Among these many causes of distress, the negligence and disorder of
Balthazar's dress, so degrading to a man of his station, was not the
least bitter to a woman accustomed to the exquisite nicety of Flemish
life. At first Josephine endeavored, in concert with Balthazar's
valet, Lemulquinier, to repair the daily devastation of his clothing,
but even that she was soon forced to give up. The very day when
Balthazar, unaware of the substitution, put on new clothes in place of
those that were stained, torn, or full of holes, he made rags of them.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Options by O. Henry: line that has no turning.
Barbara was alone. Uncle Jerome and Nevada had gone to the theatre.
Barbara had not cared to go. She wanted to stay at home and study in
the study. If you, miss, were a stunning New York girl, and saw every
day that a brown, ingenuous Western witch was getting hobbles and a
lasso on the young man you wanted for yourself, you, too, would lose
taste for the oxidized-silver setting of a musical comedy.
Barbara sat by the quartered-oak library table. Her right arm rested
upon the table, and her dextral fingers nervously manipulated a sealed
letter. The letter was addressed to Nevada Warren; and in the upper
left-hand corner of the envelope was Gilbert's little gold palette.
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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 Under the Red Robe by Stanley Weyman: remoteness of this corner where the dread Cardinal seemed a name,
and the King's writ ran slowly, and the rebellion long quenched
elsewhere, still smouldered. But Madame's pure faith, the
younger woman's tenderness--how was I to face these?
I cursed the Cardinal--would he had stayed at Luchon. I cursed
the English fool who had brought me to this, I cursed the years
of plenty and scarceness, and the Quartier Marais, and Zaton's,
where I had lived like a pig, and--
A touch fell on my arm. I turned. It was Clon. How he had
stolen up so quietly, how long he had been at my elbow, I could
not tell. But his eyes gleamed spitefully in their deep sockets,
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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 Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: superintended matters with quite an important air. Rudolph clambered in and
dug the last few feet of the trench, because it did not need to be as large
for him as for Joseph and Patrick, and then one at a time he brought the dear
little puppies out, and Mabel and Tattine took turns in appropriating them,
while Betsy eyed them proudly but withal a little anxiously. And they were
dear; as prettily marked as their beautiful grandmother Tadjie, and too
cunning for words.
"You have made us a great deal of trouble, Betsy," said Tattine, "but they are
such beauties we forgive you," whereat Betsy looked up so affectionately that
Tattine added, "and perhaps some day I'll forgive you about that rabbit, since
Mamma says it's natural for you to hunt them." But Betsy, indifferent
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