| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: own voice with the screams and mouthings of an angry beast.
Presently he raced toward the opposite side of the tree and
off into the jungle, pounding loudly against the boles of trees
as he went, and voicing the panther's diminishing growls as
he drew farther and farther away from the village.
A few minutes later he returned to the village gate, calling
to the natives within.
"I have driven Sheeta away," he said. "Now come and
admit me as you promised."
For a time there was the sound of excited discussion within
the palisade, but at length a half-dozen warriors came and
The Beasts of Tarzan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Schoolmistress and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov: flashing over my head and cleaving the storm-clouds. I have
seen green forests, fields, rivers, lakes, towns. I have heard
the singing of the sirens, and the strains of the shepherds'
pipes; I have touched the wings of comely devils who flew down to
converse with me of God. . . . In your books I have flung myself
into the bottomless pit, performed miracles, slain, burned towns,
preached new religions, conquered whole kingdoms. . . .
"Your books have given me wisdom. All that the unresting thought
of man has created in the ages is compressed into a small compass
in my brain. I know that I am wiser than all of you.
"And I despise your books, I despise wisdom and the blessings of
The Schoolmistress and Other Stories |
