| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol: "As you please, dear sir. Yet stretch another point, and throw in
another two kopecks."
"Pardon me, but I cannot. How many runaway serfs did you say that you
possess? Seventy?"
"No; seventy-eight."
"Seventy-eight souls at thirty kopecks each will amount to--to--" only
for a moment did our hero halt, since he was strong in his arithmetic,
"--will amount to twenty-four roubles, ninety-six kopecks."[1]
[1] Nevertheless Chichikov would appear to have erred, since most
people would make the sum amount to twenty-three roubles, forty
kopecks. If so, Chichikov cheated himself of one rouble, fifty-six
 Dead Souls |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum: The First and Foremost smiled wickedly; but he only said:
"I and my Phanfasms go first, for nothing on earth can oppose our power."
They all agreed to that, knowing the Phanfasms to be the mightiest of
the combined forces. King Roquat now invited them to attend a banquet
he had prepared, where they might occupy themselves in eating and
drinking until midnight arrived.
As they had now seen and heard all of the plot against them that
they cared to, Ozma allowed her Magic Picture to fade away.
Then she turned to her friends and said:
"Our enemies will be here sooner than I expected. What do you
advise me to do?"
 The Emerald City of Oz |