| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Adieu by Honore de Balzac: flaring of the flames.
"Ah! all is lost!" replied the major, "they have eaten my horse; and
how can I make this stupid general and his wife walk?"
"Take a brand from the fire and threaten them."
"Threaten the countess!"
"Good-bye," said the aide-de-camp, "I have scarcely time to get across
that fatal river--and I MUST; I have a mother in France. What a night!
These poor wretches prefer to lie here in the snow; half will allow
themselves to perish in those flames rather than rise and move on. It
is four o'clock, Philippe! In two hours the Russians will begin to
move. I assure you you will again see the Beresina choked with
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tales of the Klondyke by Jack London: on the face o' man is a beute? Wot do you mean, you--"
And thereat this fiery son of the sea broke off into a string of
Oriental profanity, mingling gods and devils, lineages and men,
metaphors and monsters, with so savage a virility that Jacob Kent
was paralyzed. He shrank back, his arms lifted as though to ward
off physical violence. So utterly unnerved was he that the other
paused in the mid-swing of a gorgeous peroration and burst into
thunderous laughter.
"The sun's knocked the bottom out o' the trail," said the Man with
the Gash, between departing paroxysms of mirth. "An' I only 'ope
as you'll appreciate the hoppertunity of consortin' with a man o'
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