The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Mother by Owen Wister: this reason that we all yearned in our middle-aged way for the tale of
love which we expected from young Richard. He, on his part, repeated the
hope that by the time his turn to tell a story was reached we should be
tired of stories and prefer to spend the evening at the card tables or in
the music room.
We were a house party, no brief "week-end" affair, but a gathering whose
period for most of the guests covered a generous and leisurely ten days,
with enough departures and arrivals to give that variety which is
necessary among even the most entertaining and agreeable people. Our
skilful hostess had assembled us in the country, beneath a roof of New
York luxury, a luxury which has come in these later days to be so much
|
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 Illustrious Gaudissart by Honore de Balzac: "Wife! wife! come here and listen. If Monsieur Vernier didn't take it
into his head to send this gentleman to talk to Margaritis!"
"What in the world did you say to each other, my dear, good Monsieur?"
said the wife. "Why, he's crazy!"
"He sold me two casks of wine."
"Did you buy them?"
"Yes."
"But that is his delusion; he thinks he sells his wine, and he hasn't
any."
"Ha!" snorted the traveller, "then I'll go straight to Monsieur
Vernier and thank him."
|