| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Recruit by Honore de Balzac: with an air of curiosity.
"He knows he hasn't far to go," thought the mayor as the recruit left
the house. "That's a bold fellow! God guide him! He seemed to have his
answers ready. But he'd have been lost if any one but I had questioned
him and demanded to see his papers."
At that instant, the clocks of Carentan struck half-past nine; the
lanterns were lighted in Madame de Dey's antechamber; the servants
were helping their masters and mistresses to put on their clogs, their
cloaks, and their mantles; the card-players had paid their debts, and
all the guests were preparing to leave together after the established
customs of provincial towns.
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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 Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: voyagers. These two had saved the train and no more. A tandem
urged to its last speed, an act of something closely bordering on
brigandage at the ticket office, and a spasm of running, had
brought them on the platform just as the engine uttered its
departing snort. There was but one carriage easily within their
reach; and they had sprung into it, and the leader and elder
already had his feet upon the floor, when he observed Mr
Finsbury.
'Good God!' he cried. 'Uncle Joseph! This'll never do.'
And he backed out, almost upsetting his companion, and once more
closed the door upon the sleeping patriarch.
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