The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Maid Marian by Thomas Love Peacock: "Where Sir Guy of Gamwell has found it," said Robin Hood, "near the borders
of Barnsdale. There you may dwell in safety with him and fair Alice,
till King Richard return, and Little John shall give you safe conduct.
You will have need to travel with caution, in disguise and without attendants,
for Prince John commands all this vicinity, and will doubtless lay the country
for you and Marian. Now it is first expedient to dismiss your retainers.
If there be any among them who like our life, they may stay with us
in the greenwood; the rest may return to their homes."
Some of the baron's men resolved to remain with Robin and Marian,
and were furnished accordingly with suits of green, of which Robin
always kept good store.
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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 Purse by Honore de Balzac: suddenly rose before him, as objects plunging to the bottom of
deep waters come back to the surface.
So, on the day when he could resume work, he went early to his
studio; but the visit he undoubtedly had a right to pay to his
neighbors was the true cause of his haste; he had already
forgotten the pictures he had begun. At the moment when a passion
throws off its swaddling clothes, inexplicable pleasures are
felt, known to those who have loved. So some readers will
understand why the painter mounted the stairs to the fourth floor
but slowly, and will be in the secret of the throbs that followed
each other so rapidly in his heart at the moment when he saw the
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