| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Unconscious Comedians by Honore de Balzac: the sight of luxury silenced him, and put an end to the discussion.
Too late he perceived that Bixiou had been making him pose.
At half-past five o'clock, the moment when Leon de Lora was making his
evening toilet to the great wonderment of Gazonal, who counted the
thousand and one superfluities of his cousin, and admired the
solemnity of the valet as he performed his functions, the "pedicure of
monsieur" was announced, and Publicola Masson, a little man fifty
years of age, made his appearance, laid a small box of instruments on
the floor, and sat down on a small chair opposite to Leon, after
bowing to Gazonal and Bixiou.
"How are matters going with you?" asked Leon, delivering to Publicola
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from End of the Tether by Joseph Conrad: tached to this affair had made him willing to try. . . .
Mr. Van Wyk, favorably impressed, and suddenly mol-
lified by a desire to laugh, interrupted--
"That's all right if you make it a personal matter;
but you can do no less than sit down and smoke a cigar
with me."
A slight pause, then Captain Whalley stepped forward
heavily. As to the regularity of the service, for the
future he made himself responsible for it; and his name
was Whalley--perhaps to a sailor (he was speaking to
a sailor, was he not?) not altogether unfamiliar. There
End of the Tether |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Master Key by L. Frank Baum: crew, and when they drew their daggers and pistols and began fiercely
shouting in an unknown tongue, the boy sighed and took the electric tube
from his coat pocket.
The buccaneers did not notice the movement, but rushed upon him so
quickly that he had to press the button at a lively rate. The tube
made no noise at all, so it was a strange and remarkable sight to see
the pirates suddenly drop to the deck and lie motionless. Indeed, one
was so nearly upon him when the electric current struck him that his
head, in falling, bumped into Rob's stomach and sent him reeling
against the side of the vessel.
He quickly recovered himself, and seeing his enemies were rendered
The Master Key |
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 A Start in Life by Honore de Balzac: court-yard, in a house which was formerly that of a great family, in
the days when the higher nobility of the kingdom lived on the ancient
site of the Palais des Tournelles and the hotel Saint-Paul. Toward the
end of the sixteenth century, the great seigneurs divided among
themselves these vast spaces, once occupied by the gardens of the
kings of France, as indicated by the present names of the streets,--
Cerisaie, Beautreillis, des Lions, etc. Madame Clapart's apartment,
which was panelled throughout with ancient carvings, consisted of
three connecting rooms, a dining-room, salon, and bedroom. Above it
was the kitchen, and a bedroom for Oscar. Opposite to the entrance, on
what is called in Paris "le carre,"--that is, the square landing,--was
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