| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Two Brothers by Honore de Balzac: Bixiou, as they mounted the staircase, "has sailed his boat cleverly
to get rid of his wife. You know our old friend Lousteau? well,
Philippe paid him a thousand francs a month to keep Madame Bridau in
the society of Florine, Mariette, Tullia, and the Val-Noble. When
Philippe saw his crab-girl so used to pleasure and dress that she
couldn't do without them, he stopped paying the money, and left her to
get it as she could--it is easy to know how. By the end of eighteen
months, the brute had forced his wife, stage by stage, lower and
lower; till at last, by the help of a young officer, he gave her a
taste for drinking. As he went up in the world, his wife went down;
and the countess is now in the mud. The girl, bred in the country, has
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: writing-table. In the right-hand corner lay a thick manuscript,
bound in paper folders, and tied with a string beneath which a
letter had been slipped. Next to the manuscript was a small
revolver. Granice stared a moment at these oddly associated
objects; then he took the letter from under the string and slowly
began to open it. He had known he should do so from the moment
his hand touched the drawer. Whenever his eye fell on that
letter some relentless force compelled him to re-read it.
It was dated about four weeks back, under the letter-head of "The
Diversity Theatre."
"MY DEAR MR. GRANICE:
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