| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War by Frederick A. Talbot: tipped up at the rear ends to ensure stability. The tail also
resembles that of a bird very closely.
This aeroplane, especially the latest type, is very speedy, and
it has proved extremely reliable. It is very sharp in turning
and extremely sensitive to its rudder, which renders it a
first-class craft for reconnoitring duty. The latest machines
are fitted with motors developing from 120 to 150 horse-power.
The "Taube" commanded attention in Germany for the reason that
it indicated the first departure from the adherence to the French
designs which up to that time had been followed somewhat
slavishly, owing to the absence of native initiative.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed by Edna Ferber: crop failure. And let me tell you, that takes some sense
of humor. The book is my potato crop. If it fails it
will mean that I must keep on drudging, with a knot or
two taken in my belt. But I'll squeeze a smile out of
the corner of my mouth, somehow. And if it succeeds!
Oh, Ernst, if it succeeds!"
"Then, Kindchen?"
"Then it means that I may have a little thin layer of
jam on my bread and butter. It won't mean money--at
least, I don't think it will. A first book never does.
But it will mean a future. It will mean that I will have
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: malleable by the hammer of necessity, an adroitness which recoils
before no methods, impudence, and, above all, the self-possession, the
coolness, the embracing glance which constitute the hired /bravi/ of
thought and statesmanship. Such instruments are both rare and
necessary.
As a matter of calculation, de Marsay maintained Comte Maxime de
Trailles in the highest society; he described him as a man ripened by
passions, taught by experience, who knew men and things, to whom
travel and a certain faculty for observation had imparted an
understanding of European interests, of foreign cabinets, and of all
the ramifications of the great continental families. De Marsay
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: characteristic of Parisians, was dried immediately; for as soon as the
stranger saw himself the object of attention, he looked at his
observer with so savage an air that the boldest lounger hurried his
step as though he had trod upon a serpent.
After standing for some time undecided, the tall stranger suddenly
passed his hand across his face to brush away, as it were, the
thoughts that were ploughing furrows in it. He must have taken some
desperate resolution. Casting a glance upon his wife and daughter, he
drew a dagger from his breast and gave it to his companion, saying in
Italian:--
"I will see if the Bonapartes remember us."
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