| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: picked out by him through the windows of his confessional, and charged
him with the administration of the fortune, the revenues of which he
was willing to apply to the needs of the community, but of which he
wished to preserve the capital.
Towards the end of 1814, then, Henri de Marsay had no sentiment of
obligation in the world, and was as free as an unmated bird. Although
he had lived twenty-two years he appeared to be barely seventeen. As a
rule the most fastidious of his rivals considered him to be the
prettiest youth in Paris. From his father, Lord Dudley, he had derived
a pair of the most amorously deceiving blue eyes; from his mother the
bushiest of black hair, from both pure blood, the skin of a young
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
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 Master of the World by Jules Verne: Harry Horn said to his comrade, "It will not be easy."
"Perhaps impossible," responded Bruck.
Their comments caused me secret uneasiness. If I returned without
even having scaled the mountain, my mission would be a complete
failure, without speaking of the torture to my curiosity. And when I
stood again before Mr. Ward, shamed and confused, I should cut but a
sorry figure.
We opened our knapsacks and lunched moderately on bread and cold
meat. Our repast finished, in less than half an hour, Mr. Smith
sprang up eager to push forward once more. James Bruck took the lead;
and we had only to follow him as best we could.
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