| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne: a few wandering ponies that their owners would not feed. Sometimes we
could see a hawk balancing himself on his wings under the grey cloud,
and then darting away south with rapid flight. I felt melancholy
under this savage aspect of nature, and my thoughts went away to the
cheerful scenes I had left in the far south.
We had to cross a few narrow fiords, and at last quite a wide gulf;
the tide, then high, allowed us to pass over without delay, and to
reach the hamlet of Alftanes, one mile beyond.
That evening, after having forded two rivers full of trout and pike,
called Alfa and Heta, we were obliged to spend the night in a
deserted building worthy to be haunted by all the elfins of
Journey to the Center of the Earth |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy: busied themselves till his brain seemed swollen. One subject was
concerning his own approaching actions. He was a day earlier than
his letter to his parents had stated, and his arrangement with
them had been that they should meet him at Plymouth; a plan which
pleased the worthy couple beyond expression. Once before the same
engagement had been made, which he had then quashed by ante-dating
his arrival. This time he would go right on to Castle Boterel;
ramble in that well-known neighbourhood during the evening and
next morning, making inquiries; and return to Plymouth to meet
them as arranged--a contrivance which would leave their cherished
project undisturbed, relieving his own impatience also.
A Pair of Blue Eyes |
