| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: with his hands, would shoot pike with a fowling piece, he would
spend whole hours by the river trying to catch little fish with a
big hook.
Left alone with me, Agafya coughed and passed her hand several
times over her forehead. . . . She began to feel a little drunk
from the vodka.
"How are you getting on, Agasha?" I asked her, after a long
silence, when it began to be awkward to remain mute any longer.
"Very well, thank God. . . . Don't tell anyone, sir, will you?"
she added suddenly in a whisper.
"That's all right," I reassured her. "But how reckless you are,
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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 Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson: it will be remembered, he had left Lord Foxham's papers; and to get
these and be back in time for the tryst with the young Duke of
Gloucester could only be managed by an early start and the most
vigorous walking.
The frost was more rigorous than ever; the air windless and dry,
and stinging to the nostril. The moon had gone down, but the stars
were still bright and numerous, and the reflection from the snow
was clear and cheerful. There was no need for a lamp to walk by;
nor, in that still but ringing air, the least temptation to delay.
Dick had crossed the greater part of the open ground between
Shoreby and the forest, and had reached the bottom of the little
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