| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ferragus by Honore de Balzac: shall not be tricked like a fool."
He stood by the window of his study, which looked upon the street, and
then a final scheme, inspired by jealousy, came into his mind. He
resolved to send his head-clerk in his own carriage to the Bourse with
a letter to another broker, explaining his sales and purchases and
requesting him to do his business for that day. He postponed his more
delicate transactions till the morrow, indifferent to the fall or rise
of stocks or the debts of all Europe. High privilege of love!--it
crushes all things, all interests fall before it: altar, throne,
consols!
At half-past three, just the hour at which the Bourse is in full blast
Ferragus |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Alcibiades I by Plato: Platonist in the next generation who aspired to imitate his master. Not
that on grounds either of language or philosophy we should lightly reject
them. Some difference of style, or inferiority of execution, or
inconsistency of thought, can hardly be considered decisive of their
spurious character. For who always does justice to himself, or who writes
with equal care at all times? Certainly not Plato, who exhibits the
greatest differences in dramatic power, in the formation of sentences, and
in the use of words, if his earlier writings are compared with his later
ones, say the Protagoras or Phaedrus with the Laws. Or who can be expected
to think in the same manner during a period of authorship extending over
above fifty years, in an age of great intellectual activity, as well as of
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Long Odds by H. Rider Haggard: away up to my thigh. I thought that he was going to get hold then, but
he did not. He only growled softly, and went back to the ox. Shifting
my head a little I got a full view of him. He was about the biggest
lion I ever saw, and I have seen a great many, and he had a most
tremendous black mane. What his teeth were like you can see--look
there, pretty big ones, ain't they? Altogether he was a magnificent
animal, and as I lay sprawling on the fore-tongue of the waggon, it
occurred to me that he would look uncommonly well in a cage. He stood
there by the carcass of poor Kaptein, and deliberately disembowelled him
as neatly as a butcher could have done. All this while I dared not
move, for he kept lifting his head and keeping an eye on me as he licked
Long Odds |
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 Anthem by Ayn Rand: Judge asked:
"Where have you been?"
But we jerked our head away, hid our
face upon our tied hands, and bit our lips.
The lash whistled again. We wondered
who was sprinkling burning coal dust upon
the floor, for we saw drops of red twinkling
on the stones around us.
Then we knew nothing, save two voices
snarling steadily, one after the other,
even though we knew they were speaking
Anthem |
