| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: It was as the Earl had said; Myles had three times given his
enemy grace when victory was almost in his very grasp. He had
three times spared him, in spite of all he and those dear to him
must suffer should his cruel and merciless enemy gain the
victory. It was a false and foolish generosity, partly the fault
of his impulsive youth--more largely of his romantic training in
the artificial code of French chivalry. He felt that the battle
was his, and so he gave his enemy these three chances to recover,
as some chevalier or knight- errant of romance might have done,
instead of pushing the combat to a mercifully speedy end-- and
his foolish generosity cost him dear.
 Men of Iron |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela: terest, the heat grows more and more intense. To breathe
is to inhale the air of barracks, prison, brothel, and
pigsty all in one.
And rising above the babble, from the car ahead ever
the shrill voice, "Gentlemen, a well-dressed young man
stole . . ."
The streets in Aguascalientes were so many refuse
piles. Men in khaki moved to and fro like bees before
their hive, overrunning the restaurants, the crapulous
lunch houses, the parlous hotels, and the stands of the
street vendors on which rotten pork lay alongside grimy
 The Underdogs |