| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan by Honore de Balzac: later, and frustrates calculation. You may hoodwink him to-day, but
to-morrow nothing can dupe him."
"Ah!" cried the princess, "if I were only thirty years old what
amusement I might have with him! The one enjoyment I have lacked up to
the present is a man of intellect to fool. I have had only partners,
never adversaries. Love was a mere game instead of being a battle."
"Dear princess, admit that I am very generous; for, after all, you
know!--charity begins at home."
The two women looked at each other, laughing, and clasped hands in a
friendly way. Assuredly they both knew each other's secrets, and this
was not the first man nor the first service that one had given to the
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne: But an impatient curiosity impelled our steps; crackling and
rattling, our feet were trampling on the remains of prehistoric
animals and interesting fossils, the possession of which is a matter
of rivalry and contention between the museums of great cities. A
thousand Cuviers could never have reconstructed the organic remains
deposited in this magnificent and unparalleled collection.
I stood amazed. My uncle had uplifted his long arms to the vault
which was our sky; his mouth gaping wide, his eyes flashing behind
his shining spectacles, his head balancing with an up-and-down
motion, his whole attitude denoted unlimited astonishment. Here he
stood facing an immense collection of scattered leptotheria,
Journey to the Center of the Earth |
