| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The King of the Golden River by John Ruskin: merrily. And the path became easier to his feet, and two or three
blades of grass appeared upon it, and some grasshoppers began
singing on the bank beside it, and Gluck thought he had never heard
such merry singing.
Then he went on for another hour, and the thirst increased
on him so that he thought he should be forced to drink. But as
he raised the flask he saw a little child lying panting by the
roadside, and it cried out piteously for water. Then Gluck
struggled with himself and determined to bear the thirst a little
longer; and he put the bottle to the child's lips, and it drank
it all but a few drops. Then it smiled on him and got up and ran
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Twilight Land by Howard Pyle: the elixir of life, and might have been living even to this day
had he thought it worth while to do so.
There was a student at the university whose name was Gebhart, who
was so well acquainted with algebra and geometry that he could
tell at a single glance how many drops of water there were in a
bottle of wine. As for Latin and Greek--he could patter them
off like his A B C's. Nevertheless, he was not satisfied with the
things he knew, but was for learning the things that no schools
could teach him. So one day he came knocking at Nicholas Flamel's
door.
"Come in," said the wise man, and there Gebhart found him sitting
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