| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: of humans.
"Five goats and a new sleeping mat," mumbled Bukawai.
"Two fat goats and a sleeping mat." Momaya raised her bid;
but Bukawai was obdurate. He stuck for the five goats
and the sleeping mat for a matter of half an hour,
while the hyenas sniffed and growled and laughed hideously.
Momaya was determined to give all that Bukawai asked
if she could do no better, but haggling is second nature
to black barterers, and in the end it partly repaid her,
for a compromise finally was reached which included
three fat goats, a new sleeping mat, and a piece of
The Jungle Tales of Tarzan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Virginian by Owen Wister: long, jocular nose, very wary-looking, and a bleached blue eye.
Cattle was his business, as a rule, but of late he had been
"looking around some," and Rawhide seemed much on his brain.
Shorty struck me as "looking around" also. He was quite short,
indeed, and the jerky hurt him almost every time. He was
light-haired and mild. Think of a yellow dog that is lost, and
fancies each newcomer in sight is going to turn out his master,
and you will have Shorty.
It was the Northern Pacific that surprised us into intimacy. We
were nearing Medora. We had made a last arrangement of our legs.
I lay stretched in silence, placid in the knowledge it was soon
The Virginian |
