| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac: espaliers are like a copse. The paths, once graveled, are overgrown
with purslane; but, to be accurate there is no trace of a path.
"Looking down from the hilltop, to which cling the ruins of the old
castle of the Dukes of Vendome, the only spot whence the eye can see
into this enclosure, we think that at a time, difficult now to
determine, this spot of earth must have been the joy of some country
gentleman devoted to roses and tulips, in a word, to horticulture, but
above all a lover of choice fruit. An arbor is visible, or rather the
wreck of an arbor, and under it a table still stands not entirely
destroyed by time. At the aspect of this garden that is no more, the
negative joys of the peaceful life of the provinces may be divined as
La Grande Breteche |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Hero of Our Time by M.Y. Lermontov: my lodgings without mishap.
I was living with a certain old Cossack under-
officer whom I loved, not only on account of his
kindly disposition, but also, and more especially,
on account of his pretty daughter, Nastya.
Wrapped up in a sheepskin coat she was
waiting for me, as usual, by the wicket gate.
The moon illumined her charming little lips, now
turned blue by the cold of the night. Recognizing
me she smiled; but I was in no mood to linger
with her.
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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 Stories From the Old Attic by Robert Harris: inadvertently spilled a glass of tomato juice onto her white tennis
dress. While her humakin companion predictably stood up and stared
at her with horror, across the room a human male who had just
witnessed the event was so filled with ardor and longing that he
almost broke the table in his rush to get over to her and make her
acquaintance. His excitement to declare his affection left him
without the capacity for coherent speech, so that only tentative and
confused phrases stumbled from his mouth. In the midst of his
babbling, though, he could see, in the welling dew of the woman's
eyes, the tenderness of regard he had inspired.
As other humans, too, began to grow weary of the expectation of
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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 Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: expression of peaceful and holy happiness again. He could not
understand it, neither was he able to invent any remarks about it
that could damage it or disturb it. And so it was his turn to be
dissatisfied with life. His private guesses at the reasons for the
happiness failed in all instances, upon examination. When he met
Mrs. Wilcox and noticed the placid ecstasy in her face, he said to
himself, "Her cat has had kittens"--and went and asked the cook; it
was not so, the cook had detected the happiness, but did not know
the cause. When Halliday found the duplicate ecstasy in the face of
"Shadbelly" Billson (village nickname), he was sure some neighbour
of Billson's had broken his leg, but inquiry showed that this had
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
