| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: check the lines of men that were carried away by the current; and
holding their weapons above their heads they all crossed the Macaras
as though between two walls. He had noticed that the western wind had
driven the sand so as to obstruct the river and form a natural
causeway across it.
He was now on the left bank in front of Utica, and in a vast plain,
the latter being advantageous for his elephants, which formed the
strength of his army.
This feat of genius filled the soldiers with enthusiasm. They
recovered extraordinary confidence. They wished to hasten immediately
against the Barbarians; but the Suffet bade them rest for two hours.
 Salammbo |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Snow Image by Nathaniel Hawthorne: satisfaction in pulling it," answered the author. "But, there
does seem to be one honest man among these seventeen unrighteous
ones; and he tells me fairly, that no American publisher will
meddle with an American work,--seldom if by a known writer, and
never if by a new one,--unless at the writer's risk."
"The paltry rogues!" cried I. "Will they live by literature, and
yet risk nothing for its sake? But, after all, you might publish
on your own account."
"And so I might," replied Oberon. "But the devil of the business
is this. These people have put me so out of conceit with the
tales, that I loathe the very thought of them, and actually
 The Snow Image |