| 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: town's market, with the thing in your creel and nought beside?"
"I sit here," says the man, "to get me a wife."
"There is no sense in any of these answers," thought the Earl's
daughter; "and I could find it in my heart to weep."
By came the Earl upon that; and she called him and told him all.
And when he had heard, he was of his daughter's mind that this
should be a thing of virtue; and charged the man to set a price
upon the thing, or else be hanged upon the gallows; and that was
near at hand, so that the man could see it.
"The way of life is straight like the grooves of launching," quoth
the man. "And if I am to be hanged let me be hanged."
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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 Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: China Sea! Ha! Ha!"
"But why should he replace the bottles like
this?" . . . I began.
"Why shouldn't he? Why should he want to
throw the bottles away? They fit the drawer.
They belong to the medicine chest."
"And they were wrapped up," I cried.
"Well, the wrappers were there. Did it from
habit, I suppose, and as to refilling, there is always
a lot of stuff they send in paper parcels that burst
after a time. And then, who can tell? I suppose
 The Shadow Line |