| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dreams by Olive Schreiner: it bound them together.
He said, "While she lies there he must stand and look across the desert."
And I said, "Does he know why he cannot move?"
And he said, "No."
And I heard a sound of something cracking, and I looked, and I saw the band
that bound the burden on to her back broken asunder; and the burden rolled
on to the ground.
And I said, "What is this?"
And he said, "The Age-of-muscular-force is dead. The Age-of-nervous-force
has killed him with the knife he holds in his hand; and silently and
invisibly he has crept up to the woman, and with that knife of Mechanical
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Herodias by Gustave Flaubert: At this sight, Aulus left the courtyard and hastened to the kitchens,
led by his taste for gormandizing, which later became the amazement of
the world.
As they passed the opening to a small cellar, Vitellius perceived some
objects resembling breast-plates hanging on a wall. He looked at them
with interest, and then demanded that the subterranean chambers of the
fortress be thrown open for his inspection. These chambers were cut
into the rocky foundation of the castle, and had been formed into
vaults, with pillars set at regular distances. The first vault opened
contained old armour; the second was full of pikes, with long points
emerging from tufts of feathers. The walls of the third chamber were
Herodias |
