| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Heroes by Charles Kingsley: And he said, 'Yes; this is Troezene, where I was born and
bred.'
And she said, 'It is but a little land, barren and rocky, and
looks towards the bleak north-east. Do you see that land
beyond?'
'Yes; that is Attica, where the Athenian people dwell.'
'That is a fair land and large, Theseus my son; and it looks
toward the sunny south; a land of olive-oil and honey, the
joy of Gods and men. For the Gods have girdled it with
mountains, whose veins are of pure silver, and their bones of
marble white as snow; and there the hills are sweet with
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Fables by Robert Louis Stevenson: cried the mare.
The saddle-horse went away by himself. "I was right," said he,
"they are great chiefs."
XV - THE TADPOLE AND THE FROG.
"BE ashamed of yourself," said the frog.
"When I was a tadpole, I had no tail."
"Just what I thought!" said the tadpole.
"You never were a tadpole."
XVI. - SOMETHING IN IT.
THE natives told him many tales. In particular, they warned him of
the house of yellow reeds tied with black sinnet, how any one who
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed by Edna Ferber: in Vienna. Stranger things have happened."
Frau Nirlanger shook her head with a little hopeless
sigh. "You do not know Vienna; you do not know the iron
strength of caste, and custom and stiff-necked pride. I
am dead in Vienna. And the dead should rest in peace."
It was late in the afternoon when Von Gerhard and I
turned the corner which led to the building that held the
Post. I had saved that for the last.
"I hope that heaven is not a place of golden streets,
and twanging harps and angel choruses," I said, softly.
"Little, nervous, slangy, restless Blackie, how bored and
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Recruit by Honore de Balzac: playing her part like a consummate actress. Presently she suggested a
game of loto, and offered to find the box, on the ground that she
alone knew where it was, and then she disappeared.
"I am suffocating, my poor Brigitte," she cried, wiping the tears that
gushed from her eyes, now brilliant with fever, anxiety, and
impatience. "He does not come," she moaned, looking round the room
prepared for her son. "Here alone I can breathe, I can live! A few
minutes more and he MUST be here; for I know he is living. I am
certain of it, my heart says so. Don't you hear something, Brigitte? I
would give the rest of my life to know at this moment whether he were
still in prison, or out in the free country. Oh! I wish I could stop
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