| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum: never been any question about my going. I can't take the Red Wagon,
though."
"No, we must leave the wagon," said the wizard, "and also we must
leave our food and blankets, I fear. But if we can defy these
Merry-Go-Round Mountains to stop us, we won't mind the sacrifice of
some of our comforts."
"No one knows where we're going to land!" remarked the Lion in a voice
that sounded as if he were going to cry.
"We may not land at all," replied Hank, "but the best way to find out
what will happen to us is to swing across as Scraps and the Woozy have
done."
 The Lost Princess of Oz |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad: loomed up enormous, indistinctly rigid and inanimate. I picked up
the candelabra, groped for a candle all over the carpet, found one,
and lighted it. All that time Dona Rita didn't stir. When I
turned towards her she seemed to be slowly awakening from a trance.
She was deathly pale and by contrast the melted, sapphire-blue of
her eyes looked black as coal. They moved a little in my
direction, incurious, recognizing me slowly. But when they had
recognized me completely she raised her hands and hid her face in
them. A whole minute or more passed. Then I said in a low tone:
"Look at me," and she let them fall slowly as if accepting the
inevitable.
 The Arrow of Gold |