| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Herland by Charlotte Gilman: dreamily contented.
"What do YOU call them?" I mildly inquired.
"Boys! Nothing but boys, most of 'em. A standoffish, disagreeable
lot at that. Critical, impertinent youngsters. No girls at all."
He was angry and severe, not a little jealous, too, I think.
Afterward, when he found out just what it was they did not like,
he changed his manner somewhat and got on better. He had to.
For, in spite of his criticism, they were girls, and, furthermore, all
the girls there were! Always excepting our three!--with whom
we presently renewed our acquaintance.
When it came to courtship, which it soon did, I can of course
Herland |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from O Pioneers! by Willa Cather: horizon. To the south, his plowed fields; to the
east, the sod stables, the cattle corral, the pond,
--and then the grass.
Bergson went over in his mind the things
that had held him back. One winter his cattle
had perished in a blizzard. The next summer
one of his plow horses broke its leg in a prairie-
dog hole and had to be shot. Another summer he
lost his hogs from cholera, and a valuable
stallion died from a rattlesnake bite. Time and
O Pioneers! |
