| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft: such prodigious spaces that Carter wondered whether or not they
could still be within earth's dreamland.
Then suddenly the clouds
thinned and the stars shone spectrally above. All below was still
black, but those pallid beacons in the sky seemed alive with a
meaning and directiveness they had never possessed elsewhere.
It was not that the figures of the constellations were different,
but that the same familiar shapes now revealed a significance
they had formerly failed to make plain. Everything focussed toward
the north; every curve and asterism of the glittering sky became
part of a vast design whose function was to hurry first the eye
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne: tomed to command.
"I have no more disposable horses," answered the post-
master, bowing.
"I must have some this moment."
"It is impossible."
"What are those horses which have just been harnessed
to the tarantass I saw at the door?"
"They belong to this traveler," answered the postmaster,
pointing to Michael Strogoff.
"Take them out!" said the traveler in a tone which
admitted of no reply.
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