| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: a clean shirt. The guest thanked him, and then
asked what the weather was like (the blinds were
drawn so that the sun should not prevent any one
from sleeping till eleven o'clock if he were so
inclined), and whether his hosts had slept well.
He glanced at his watch--it was still early--
and began to wash and dress. His water was
ready, and everything on the washing-stand and
dressing-table was ready for use and properly laid
out--his soap, his tooth and hair brushes, his nail
scissors and files. He washed his hands and face
The Forged Coupon |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac: said, not without reason, was full of malice. The whole countenance
showed a dangerous cunning, an integrity without warmth, the egotism
of a man long used to concentrate every feeling upon the enjoyments of
avarice and upon the only human being who was anything whatever to
him,--his daughter and sole heiress, Eugenie. Attitude, manners,
bearing, everything about him, in short, testified to that belief in
himself which the habit of succeeding in all enterprises never fails
to give to a man.
Thus, though his manners were unctuous and soft outwardly, Monsieur
Grandet's nature was of iron. His dress never varied; and those who
saw him to-day saw him such as he had been since 1791. His stout shoes
Eugenie Grandet |
