| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs: ages during which the trend of the corridors was always upward.
It was heartbreaking work for people in the state of exhaustion
in which we then were, but we clung tenaciously to it. We stumbled
and fell; we sank through pure physical inability to retain our
feet; but always we managed to rise at last and go on. At first,
wherever it had been possible, we had walked hand in hand lest
we become separated, and later, when I saw that Ajor was
weakening rapidly, we went side by side, I supporting her with
an arm about her waist. I still retained the heavy burden of
my armament; but with the rifle slung to my back, my hands
were free. When I too showed indisputable evidences of
The People That Time Forgot |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from In a German Pension by Katherine Mansfield: up again.
"The death agony was dreadful," she said brightly; "of the second, I mean.
The 'first' was run into by a furniture wagon, and had fifty marks stolen
out of a new waistcoat pocket, but the 'second' was dying for sixty-seven
hours. I never ceased crying once--not even to put the children to bed."
A young Russian, with a "bang" curl on her forehead, turned to me.
"Can you do the 'Salome' dance?" she asked. "I can."
"How delightful," I said.
"Shall I do it now? Would you like to see me?"
She sprang to her feet, executed a series of amazing contortions for the
next ten minutes, and then paused, panting, twisting her long hair.
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