| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Within the Tides by Joseph Conrad: the idea that she had died for him in a sense. But he could not
have gone very far. What stopped him was the thought of the boy,
Laughing Anne's child, that (Davidson remembered her very words)
would not have a dog's chance.
"This life the woman had left behind her appeared to Davidson's
conscience in the light of a sacred trust. He assumed an erect
attitude and, quaking inwardly still, turned about and walked
towards the house.
"For all his tremors he was very determined; but that smashed skull
had affected his imagination, and he felt very defenceless in the
darkness, in which he seemed to hear faintly now here, now there,
Within the Tides |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Grimm's Fairy Tales by Brothers Grimm: have you learnt?' 'Father, I have learnt what the dogs say when they
bark.' 'Lord have mercy on us!' cried the father; 'is that all you
have learnt? I will send you into another town, to another master.'
The youth was taken thither, and stayed a year with this master
likewise. When he came back the father again asked: 'My son, what have
you learnt?' He answered: 'Father, I have learnt what the birds say.'
Then the father fell into a rage and said: 'Oh, you lost man, you have
spent the precious time and learnt nothing; are you not ashamed to
appear before my eyes? I will send you to a third master, but if you
learn nothing this time also, I will no longer be your father.' The
youth remained a whole year with the third master also, and when he
Grimm's Fairy Tales |
