| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honore de Balzac: the 13th Vendemiaire. In those days it was all hand-shaking, and
'Birotteau, take courage; let yourself be killed, like us, for the
good cause.' Why, we are all comrades in conspiracy."
"Very good, put them down," said Constance. "If Monsieur de la
Billardiere comes he will want somebody to speak to."
"Cesarine, write," said Birotteau. "/Primo/, Monsieur the prefect of
the Seine; he'll come or he won't come, but any way he commands the
municipality,--honor to whom honor is due. Monsieur de la Billardiere
and his son, the mayor. Put the number of the guests after their
names. My colleague, Monsieur Granet, deputy-mayor, and his wife. She
is very ugly, but never mind, we can't dispense with her. Monsieur
Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Two Poets by Honore de Balzac: melancholy, "I am going to Paris, and my father is taking Bargeton
back with him to the Escarbas, where he will stay during my absence.
Mme. d'Espard (she was a Blamont-Chauvry before her marriage) has
great influence herself, and influential relations. The d'Espards are
connections of ours; they are the older branch of the Negrepelisses;
and if she vouchsafes to acknowledge the relationship, I intend to
cultivate her a good deal; she may perhaps procure a place for
Bargeton. At my solicitation, it might be desired at Court that he
should represent the Charente, and that would be a step towards his
election here. If he were a deputy, it would further other steps that
I wish to take in Paris. You, my darling, have brought about this
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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 Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: he had estimated her distance from the sun; he had calculated the diminution
of her tangential speed; but there was nothing to show that he had arrived
at the conclusions which were of the most paramount interest to them all.
Had he ascertained the true character of her orbit? had he established
any data from which it would be possible to reckon what time must elapse
before she would again approach the earth?
The only intelligible words which the astronomer had uttered
had been, "My comet!"
To what could the exclamation refer? Was it to be conjectured
that a fragment of the earth had been chipped off by the collision
of a comet? and if so, was it implied that the name of the comet
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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 The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: the Mule and all the others. Being a wise little dog, he decided not
to show himself to Dorothy just then, lest he be sent back home, but
he never lost sight of the party of travelers, all of whom were so
eager to get ahead that they never thought to look behind them. When
they came to the gates in the city wall, the Guardian of the Gates
came out to throw wide the golden portals and let them pass through.
"Did any strange person come in or out of the city on the night before
last when Ozma was stolen?" asked Dorothy.
"No indeed, Princess," answered the Guardian of the Gates.
"Of course not," said the Wizard. "Anyone clever enough to steal all
the things we have lost would not mind the barrier of a wall like this
The Lost Princess of Oz |
