| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: to take you into partnership.--'Guillaume and Lebas;' will not that
make a good business name? We might add, 'and Co.' to round off the
firm's signature."
Tears rose to the eyes of Joseph Lebas, who tried to hide them.
"Oh, Monsieur Guillaume, how have I deserved such kindness? I only do
my duty. It was so much already that you should take an interest in a
poor orph----"
He was brushing the cuff of his left sleeve with his right hand, and
dared not look at the old man, who smiled as he thought that this
modest young fellow no doubt needed, as he had needed once on a time,
some encouragement to complete his explanation.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Malbone: An Oldport Romance by Thomas Wentworth Higginson: traits, was paralyzed among his dreams. Could he have fancied
such a scene beforehand, he would have vowed that no hand but
his should touch the breathless form of Emilia. As it was, he
instinctively made way for the quick gathering of the others,
as if almost any one else had a better right to be there.
The storm had blown itself out by sunrise; the wind had
shifted, beating down the waves; it seemed as if everything in
nature were exhausted. The very tide had ebbed away. The
light-ship rested between the rocks, helpless, still at the
mercy of the returning waves, and yet still upright and with
that stately look of unconscious pleading which all shipwrecked
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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 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: up through the building. He passed with great caution the door of
the gnarled woman, and finally stopped outside his home and listened.
He could hear his mother moving heavily about among the
furniture of the room. She was chanting in a mournful voice,
occasionally interjecting bursts of volcanic wrath at the father,
who, Jimmie judged, had sunk down on the floor or in a corner.
"Why deh blazes don' chere try teh keep Jim from fightin'?
I'll break her jaw," she suddenly bellowed.
The man mumbled with drunken indifference. "Ah, wha' deh
hell. W'a's odds? Wha' makes kick?"
"Because he tears 'is clothes, yeh damn fool," cried the woman
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |
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 Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain: rush. The king said:
"They reason that we were advantaged by no par-
lous start of them, and being on foot are as yet no
mighty way from where we took the water."
"Yes, sire, that is about it, I am afraid, though I
was hoping better things."
The noise drew nearer and nearer, and soon the van
was drifting under us, on both sides of the water. A
voice called a halt from the other bank, and said:
"An they were so minded, they could get to yon
tree by this branch that overhangs, and yet not touch
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court |
