| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton: apprehensively toward the crowded ball-room. "But I haven't
seen her yet. Has she come?"
"No; at the last minute she decided not to."
"At the last minute?" he echoed, betraying his
surprise that she should ever have considered the alternative
possible.
"Yes. She's awfully fond of dancing," the young girl
answered simply. "But suddenly she made up her mind
that her dress wasn't smart enough for a ball, though
we thought it so lovely; and so my aunt had to take her
home."
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Wrecker by Stevenson & Osbourne: It was Wicks who did the talking. The sound was small in
Carthew's ears, like the voices of men miles away, but the
meaning of each word struck home to him like a bullet. "What
did you say your ship was?" inquired Wicks.
"Tempest, don't you know?" returned the officer.
Don't you know? What could that mean? Perhaps nothing:
perhaps that the ships had met already. Wicks took his
courage in both hands. "Where is she bound?" he asked.
"O, we're just looking in at all these miserable islands here,"
said the officer. "Then we bear up for San Francisco."
"O, yes, you're from China ways, like us?" pursued Wicks.
|
