| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Summer by Edith Wharton: there as a child. Even old Miss Hatchard had said to
her, on a terrible occasion in her life: "My child, you
must never cease to remember that it was Mr. Royall who
brought you down from the Mountain."
She had been "brought down from the Mountain"; from the
scarred cliff that lifted its sullen wall above the
lesser slopes of Eagle Range, making a perpetual
background of gloom to the lonely valley. The Mountain
was a good fifteen miles away, but it rose so abruptly
from the lower hills that it seemed almost to cast its
shadow over North Dormer. And it was like a great
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Commission in Lunacy by Honore de Balzac: beauty.
"You--you see, monsieur," said the Marquis, and his hesitation had
returned, "you see that Justice may look in--in here at any time--yes,
at any time--here. If there is anybody crazy, it can only be the
children--the children--who are a little crazy about their father, and
the father who is very crazy about his children--but that sort of
madness rings true."
At this juncture Madame Jeanrenaud's voice was heard in the ante-room,
and the good woman came bustling in, in spite of the man-servant's
remonstrances.
"I take no roundabout ways, I can tell you!" she exclaimed. "Yes,
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