| 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: after pillaging temples, and seeing numbers of nations and slaughters,
many ultimately ceased to believe in anything but destiny and death;--
and every evening these would fall asleep with the placidity of wild
beasts. Spendius had spit upon the images of Jupiter Olympius;
nevertheless he dreaded to speak aloud in the dark, nor did he fail
every day to put on his right boot first.
He reared a long quadrangular terrace in front of Utica, but in
proportion as it ascended the rampart was also heightened, and what
was thrown down by the one side was almost immediately raised again by
the other. Spendius took care of his men; he dreamed of plans and
strove to recall the stratagems which he had heard described in his
 Salammbo |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Wyoming by William MacLeod Raine: He could hear footsteps running toward him, and he knew that in a
few seconds he would be in the hands of the soldiers. Plunging
out of the doorway, the desperado vaulted to the saddle and drove
his spurs home. For a minute hoofs pounded on the hard, white
road. Then the night swallowed him and the echo of his
disappearance.
"That was Bannister of the Shoshones and the Tetons," the girl's
white lips pronounced to Lieutenant Beecher.
"And I let him get away from me," the disappointed lad groaned.
"Why, I had him right in my hands. I could have throttled him as
easy. But how was I to know he would have nerve enough to come
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