The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: beyond that line where the soul is mistress over herself, he lost
himself in these delicious limboes, which the vulgar call so foolishly
"the imaginary regions." He was tender, kind, and confidential. He
affected Paquita almost to madness.
"Why should we not go to Sorrento, to Nice, to Chiavari, and pass all
our life so? Will you?" he asked of Paquita, in a penetrating voice.
"Was there need to say to me: 'Will you'?" she cried. "Have I a will?
I am nothing apart from you, except in so far as I am a pleasure for
you. If you would choose a retreat worthy of us, Asia is the only
country where love can unfold his wings. . . ."
"You are right," answered Henri. "Let us go to the Indies, there where
 The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Enchanted Island of Yew by L. Frank Baum: So people knew fairies in those days, my dear, and loved them,
together with all the ryls and knooks and pixies and nymphs and other
beings that belong to the hordes of immortals. And a fairy tale was a
thing to be wondered at and spoken of in awed whispers; for no one
thought of doubting its truth.
To-day the fairies are shy; for so many curious inventions of men have
come into use that the wonders of Fairyland are somewhat tame beside
them, and even the boys and girls can not be so easily interested or
surprised as in the old days. So the sweet and gentle little
immortals perform their tasks unseen and unknown, and live mostly in
their own beautiful realms, where they are almost unthought of by our
 The Enchanted Island of Yew |