| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Travels with a Donkey in the Cevenne by Robert Louis Stevenson: offended - rather mollified than otherwise; told me I had only to
follow them; and then the mother asked me what I wanted by the lake
at such an hour. I replied, in the Scottish manner, by inquiring
if she had far to go herself. She told me, with another oath, that
she had an hour and a half's road before her. And then, without
salutation, the pair strode forward again up the hillside in the
gathering dusk.
I returned for Modestine, pushed her briskly forward, and, after a
sharp ascent of twenty minutes, reached the edge of a plateau. The
view, looking back on my day's journey, was both wild and sad.
Mount Mezenc and the peaks beyond St. Julien stood out in trenchant
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Oscar Wilde Miscellaneous by Oscar Wilde: But that's a foolish tale.
My lord, I trust
My grape is to your liking? The wine of Naples
Is fiery like its mountains. Our Tuscan vineyards
Yield a more wholesome juice.
GUIDO. I like it well,
Honest Simone; and, with your good leave,
Will toast the fair Bianca when her lips
Have like red rose-leaves floated on this cup
And left its vintage sweeter. Taste, Bianca.
[BIANCA drinks.]
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