| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Man of Business by Honore de Balzac: think that any enormities were committed. Desroches and Cardot were
good fellows grown too gray in the profession not to feel at ease with
Bixiou, Lousteau, Nathan, and young La Palferine. And they on their
side had too often had recourse to their legal advisers, and knew them
too well to try to "draw them out," in lorette language.
Conversation, perfumed with seven cigars, at first was as fantastic as
a kid let loose, but finally it settled down upon the strategy of the
constant war waged in Paris between creditors and debtors.
Now, if you will be so good as to recall the history and antecedents
of the guests, you will know that in all Paris, you could scarcely
find a group of men with more experience in this matter; the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Mountains by Stewart Edward White: camping facilities may happen to be attached. If
necessary you will sleep on granite or in a marsh,
walk a mile for firewood or water, if only your
animals are well provided for. And on the trail you
often will work twice as hard as they merely to save
them a little. In whatever I may tell you regarding
practical expedients, keep this always in mind.
As to the little details of your daily routine in the
mountains, many are worth setting down, however
trivial they may seem. They mark the difference
between the greenhorn and the old-timer; but, more
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