| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Mad King by Edgar Rice Burroughs: that he might be recognized by others, who would not
guard his secret so well as the shopkeeper of Tafelberg
would, decided him to keep on his way. So he flew through
the familiar main street of the quaint old village at a speed
that was little, if any less, than fifty miles an hour.
On he raced toward the south, his speed often necessarily
diminished upon the winding mountain roads, but for the
most part clinging to a reckless mileage that caused the
few natives he encountered to flee to the safety of the
bordering fields, there to stand in open-mouthed awe.
Halfway between Tafelberg and the crossroad into which
The Mad King |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dreams by Olive Schreiner: do not happen here.
Now, the man and woman walked together; and the woman wished well to the
man. One night when the moon was shining so that the leaves of all the
trees glinted, and the waves of the sea were silvery, the woman walked
alone to the forest. It was dark there; the moonlight fell only in little
flecks on the dead leaves under her feet, and the branches were knotted
tight overhead. Farther in it got darker, not even a fleck of moonlight
shone. Then she came to the shrine; she knelt down before it and prayed;
there came no answer. Then she uncovered her breast; with a sharp two-
edged stone that lay there she wounded it. The drops dripped slowly down
on to the stone, and a voice cried, "What do you seek?"
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