| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Chouans by Honore de Balzac: carbine. In this costume he was reviewing about two hundred of the
natives of Fougeres, all in the same kind of dress, which was fitted
to deceive the eye of the most practised Chouan. The warlike spirit of
the little town and the Breton character were fully displayed in this
scene, which was not at all uncommon. Here and there a few mothers and
sisters were bringing to their sons and brothers gourds filled with
brandy, or forgotten pistols. Several old men were examining into the
number and condition of the cartridges of these young national guards
dressed in the guise of Chouans, whose gaiety was more in keeping with
a hunting expedition than the dangerous duty they were undertaking. To
them, such encounters with Chouannerie, where the Breton of the town
The Chouans |
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 Eve and David by Honore de Balzac: an explanation of this piece of luck.
"No," said Petit-Claud, "it is very simple. The merchants in L'Houmeau
want a newspaper."
"But I am bound not to publish a paper," said David.
"Yes, you are bound, but is your successor?--However it is," he
continued, "do not trouble yourself at all; sell the business, pocket
the proceeds, and leave Cerizet to find his way through the conditions
of the sale--he can take care of himself."
"Yes," said Eve.
"And if it turns out that you may not print a newspaper in Angouleme,"
said Petit-Claud, "those who are finding the capital for Cerizet will
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