| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Foolish Virgin by Thomas Dixon: brute. He was happy in her cowardly submission. He
would laugh at the idea of divorce. Should she dare to
betray the secrets of his life of crime, he would kill
her as he would grind a snake under his heel.
A single clause from the marriage ceremony kept
ringing its knell--"until DEATH DO US PART!"
She knelt at last and prayed for Death.
"Oh, dear God, let me die, let me die!"
Suicide was a crime unthinkable to her pious mind.
Only God now could save her in his infinite mercy.
She lay for a long time on the floor where she had
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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 Talisman by Walter Scott: appeared either to contain something of mystery or of imposition.
At length he seemed determined in what manner to receive the
language of his new companion.
"You are," he said, "of a nation that loves to laugh, and you
make sport with yourselves, and with others, by telling what is
impossible, and reporting what never chanced. Thou art one of
the knights of France, who hold it for glee and pastime to GAB,
as they term it, of exploits that are beyond human power.
[Gaber. This French word signified a sort of sport much used
among the French chivalry, which consisted in vying with each
other in making the most romantic gasconades. The verb and the
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