| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Purse by Honore de Balzac: down by her. The other bowed and placed himself not far from his
model, at a distance represented by two chairs. Adelaide came
behind the old gentleman's armchair and leaned her elbows on the
back, unconsciously imitating the attitude given to Dido's sister
by Guerin in his famous picture.
Though the gentleman's familiarity was that of a father, his
freedom seemed at the moment to annoy the young girl.
"What, are you sulky with me?" he said.
Then he shot at Schinner one of those side-looks full of
shrewdness and cunning, diplomatic looks, whose expression
betrays the discreet uneasiness, the polite curiosity of well-
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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 Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: domain rather attractive. It was cooler than down-stairs, and I
sat on the brick parapet and smoked my final cigarette. The roof
of the empty house adjoined mine along the back wing, but
investigation showed that the trap-door across the low dividing
wall was bolted underneath.
There was nothing out of the ordinary anywhere, and so I assured
Mrs. Klopton. Needless to say, I did not tell her that I had left
the trap-door open, to see if it would improve the temperature of
the house. I went to bed at midnight, merely because there was
nothing else to do. I turned on the night lamp at the head of my
bed, and picked up a volume of Shaw at random (it was Arms and the
The Man in Lower Ten |
