| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Underground City by Jules Verne: it gradually slipping through his fingers.
He might have caught it, and held on with both hands by
sacrificing the life of the child he supported in his left arm.
The idea crossed him, but was banished in an instant,
although he believed himself quite unable to hold out until
drawn to the surface. For a second he closed his eyes,
believing they were about to plunge back into the abyss.
He looked up once more; the huge bird had disappeared; his hand
was at the very extremity of the broken rope--when, just as
his convulsive grasp was failing, he was seized by the men,
and with the child was placed on the level ground.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Montezuma's Daughter by H. Rider Haggard: golden belt and sandals set with pearls, and on his head a plume of
feathers of the royal green. Behind him were a band of beautiful
girls somewhat slightly clothed, some of whom played on lutes and
other instruments of music, and on either side stood four ancient
counsellors, all of them barefooted and clad in the coarsest
garments.
So soon as the screen was drawn all the company in the chamber
prostrated themselves upon their knees, an example that I hastened
to follow, and thus they remained till the emperor made a sign with
the gilded bowl of his pipe, when they rose to their feet again and
stood with folded hands and eyes fixed abjectly upon the floor.
Montezuma's Daughter |
