| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: handed it to me. I opened it. Inside there was the photograph of
a woman. She was tall and slight, and strangely picturesque with
her large vague eyes and loosened hair. She looked like a
CLAIRVOYANTE, and was wrapped in rich furs.
'What do you think of that face?' he said; 'is it truthful?'
I examined it carefully. It seemed to me the face of some one who
had a secret, but whether that secret was good or evil I could not
say. Its beauty was a beauty moulded out of many mysteries - the
beauty, in fact, which is psychological, not plastic - and the
faint smile that just played across the lips was far too subtle to
be really sweet.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Faith of Men by Jack London: man stunned by the recital.
Not he. Had he doubted, I could have forgiven him. Had he
objected, denying the dangers of such a hunt by virtue of the
animal's inability to turn about and go the other way--had he done
this, I say, I could have taken him by the hand for the true
sportsman that he was. Not he. He sniffed, looked on me, and
sniffed again; then gave my tobacco due praise, thrust one foot
into my lap, and bade me examine the gear. It was a MUCLUC of the
Innuit pattern, sewed together with sinew threads, and devoid of
beads or furbelows. But it was the skin itself that was
remarkable. In that it was all of half an inch thick, it reminded
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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 Protagoras by Plato: courageous are ready to go--against dangers, believing them to be dangers,
or not against dangers?
No, said he; the former case has been proved by you in the previous
argument to be impossible.
That, again, I replied, is quite true. And if this has been rightly
proven, then no one goes to meet what he thinks to be dangers, since the
want of self-control, which makes men rush into dangers, has been shown to
be ignorance.
He assented.
And yet the courageous man and the coward alike go to meet that about which
they are confident; so that, in this point of view, the cowardly and the
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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 Chouans by Honore de Balzac: humor, "Shall I accompany you at a distance? I can take a few solders
with me, and be ready to help and obey you."
"Very good," she said; "but promise me, on your honor,--no, I don't
believe in it; by your salvation,--but you don't believe in God; by
your soul,--but I don't suppose you have any! what pledge /can/ you
give me of your fidelity? and yet you expect me to trust you, and put
more than my life--my love, my vengeance--into your hands?"
The slight smile which crossed the pallid lips of the spy showed
Mademoiselle de Verneuil the danger she had just escaped. The man,
whose nostrils contracted instead of dilating, took the hand of his
victim, kissed it with every mark of the deepest respect, and left the
The Chouans |
