| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: The reporter and Pencroft, halting at any suspicious sound, advanced with
great caution.
They walked a little distance apart from each other so as to offer a less
mark for a shot. And, to tell the truth, they expected every moment to hear
a report. Five minutes after leaving the cart, Gideon Spilett and Pencroft
arrived at the edge of the wood before the clearing beyond which rose the
palisade.
They stopped. A few straggling beams still fell on the field clear of
trees. Thirty feet distant was the gate of the corral, which appeared to be
closed. This thirty feet, which it was necessary to cross from the wood to
the palisade, constituted the dangerous zone, to borrow a ballistic term:
The Mysterious Island |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Plain Tales from the Hills by Rudyard Kipling: Court. He said that his Mamma was dying and that it was not
wholesome for any man to lie unthriftily in the presence of
"Estreeken Sahib."
Biel said politely to Bronckhorst:--"Your witnesses don't seem to
work. Haven't you any forged letters to produce?" But Bronckhorst
was swaying to and fro in his chair, and there was a dead pause
after Biel had been called to order.
Bronckhorst's Counsel saw the look on his client's face, and without
more ado, pitched his papers on the little green baize table, and
mumbled something about having been misinformed. The whole Court
applauded wildly, like soldiers at a theatre, and the Judge began to
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