| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Chita: A Memory of Last Island by Lafcadio Hearn: to scan the furrowed Gulf;--their practiced eyes began to search
the courses of the sea-currents,--keen as the gaze of birds that
watch the wake of the plough. And soon the casks and the drift
were forgotten; for it seemed to them that the tide was heavy
with human dead--passing out, processionally, to the great open.
Very far, where the huge pitching of the swells was diminished by
distance into a mere fluttering of ripples, the water appeared as
if sprinkled with them;--they vanished and became visible again
at irregular intervals, here and there--floating most thickly
eastward!--tossing, swaying patches of white or pink or blue or
black each with its tiny speck of flesh-color showing as the sea
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy: in the theatre next day, as she had a very important thing to
tell him about.
"Yes, and when shall I see you again?" she added, with a sigh,
carefully drawing the glove over her jewelled hand.
"Say you will come."
Nekhludoff promised.
That night, when Nekhludoff was alone in his room, and lay down
after putting out his candle, he could not sleep. He thought of
Maslova, of the decision of the Senate, of his resolve to follow
her in any case, of his having given up the land. The face of
Mariette appeared to him as if in answer to those thoughts--her
 Resurrection |