The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: doth my honour yet abide with them, or hath another already
taken it, while they say that I shall come home no more?
And tell me of my wedded wife, of her counsel and her
purpose, doth she abide with her son and keep all secure,
or hath she already wedded the best of the Achaeans?"
'Even so I spake, and anon my lady mother answered me: "Yea
verily, she abideth with steadfast spirit in thy halls; and
wearily for her the nights wane always and the days in
shedding of tears. But the fair honour that is thine no man
hath yet taken; but Telemachus sits at peace on his
demesne, and feasts at equal banquets, whereof it is meet
 The Odyssey |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Passion in the Desert by Honore de Balzac: he to see a bivouac again that he pressed on the already tired courser
at such speed, that its flanks were lacerated with his spurs, and at
last the poor animal died, leaving the Frenchman alone in the desert.
After walking some time in the sand with all the courage of an escaped
convict, the soldier was obliged to stop, as the day had already
ended. In spite of the beauty of an Oriental sky at night, he felt he
had not strength enough to go on. Fortunately he had been able to find
a small hill, on the summit of which a few palm trees shot up into the
air; it was their verdure seen from afar which had brought hope and
consolation to his heart. His fatigue was so great that he lay down
upon a rock of granite, capriciously cut out like a camp-bed; there he
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