| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Fables by Robert Louis Stevenson: seated on a rail; and the bird opened its mouth and sang with the
voice of a nightingale.
"Where are you now?" asked the virtuous person. "And yet this
shakes not me! Great is the truth, and shall prevail!"
"The devil fly away with that peacock!" said the priest; and he was
downcast for a mile or two.
But presently they came to a shrine, where a Fakeer performed
miracles.
"Ah!" said the priest, "here are the true grounds of faith. The
peacock was but an adminicle. This is the base of our religion."
And he beat upon his breast, and groaned like one with colic.
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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 Chinese Boy and Girl by Isaac Taylor Headland: are reckoned not from its birthdays but from its New Year's days.
If it has the good fortune to be born the day before two days old
it is reckoned two years old being one year old when born and two
years old on its first New Year's day.
The first great event in a child's life occurs when it is
one month old. It is then given its first public reception.
Its head is shaved amid kicking and screaming, its mother is up
and around where she can receive the congratulations of her
friends, its grandmother is the honored guest of the occasion,
andthe baby is named.
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