| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland by Olive Schreiner: "No; I have come to ask whether I may sit beside your fire for a while."
"Certainly, certainly!" said Peter, eyeing the stranger's dress carefully,
still holding his gun, but with the hand off the lock. "I'm confoundedly
glad of any company. It's a beastly night for anyone to be out alone.
Wonder you find your way. Sit down! sit down!" Peter looked intently at
the stranger; then he put his gun down at his side.
The stranger sat down on the opposite side of the fire. His complexion was
dark; his arms and feet were bronzed; but his aquiline features, and the
domed forehead, were not of any South African race.
"One of the Soudanese Rhodes brought with him from the north, I suppose?"
said Peter, still eyeing him curiously.
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: toward the surface. Soon the light from without increased
and we came to a stop.
Xodar entered the cabin with his men.
"Come," he said, and we followed him through the hatchway
which had been opened by one of the seamen.
We found ourselves in a small subterranean vault, in the
centre of which was the pool in which lay our submarine,
floating as we had first seen her with only her black back showing.
Around the edge of the pool was a level platform, and then
the walls of the cave rose perpendicularly for a few feet
to arch toward the centre of the low roof. The walls
The Gods of Mars |
