| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Wife, et al by Anton Chekhov: "Hold your tongue, I tell you!" roared Yevgraf Ivanovitch.
Fedosya Semyonovna appeared in the doorway, very pale, with an
astonished face; she tried to say something, but she could not,
and could only move her fingers.
"It's all your fault!" Shiryaev shouted at her. "You have brought
him up like this!"
"I don't want to go on living in this house!" shouted the
student, crying, and looking angrily at his mother. "I don't want
to live with you!"
Varvara uttered a shriek behind the screen and broke into loud
sobs. With a wave of his hand, Shiryaev ran out of the house.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Drama on the Seashore by Honore de Balzac: special costume: a white jacket, something like that of brewers. They
marry among themselves. There is no instance of a girl of the tribe
having ever married any man who was not a paludier.
The horrible aspects of these marshes, these sloughs, the mud of which
was systematically raked, the dull gray earth that the Breton flora
held in horror, were in keeping with the gloom that filled our souls.
When we reached a spot where we crossed an arm of the sea, which no
doubt serves to feed the stagnant salt-pools, we noticed with relief
the puny vegetation which sprouted through the sand of the beach. As
we crossed, we saw the island on which the Cambremers had lived; but
we turned away our heads.
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