| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: He was thinking, too, of the future. It seemed certain that Fogg would not
stop at Yokohama, but would at once take the boat for San Francisco;
and the vast extent of America would ensure him impunity and safety.
Fogg's plan appeared to him the simplest in the world. Instead of sailing
directly from England to the United States, like a common villain,
he had traversed three quarters of the globe, so as to gain the
American continent more surely; and there, after throwing
the police off his track, he would quietly enjoy himself
with the fortune stolen from the bank. But, once in the United States,
what should he, Fix, do? Should he abandon this man? No, a hundred times no!
Until he had secured his extradition, he would not lose sight of him for an hour.
Around the World in 80 Days |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: shelter among the branches of their tree of refuge.
Clayton had been into the jungle a few hundred yards
in search of food. As he returned Jane Porter walked
to meet him. Behind the man, cunning and crafty,
crept an old and mangy lion. For three days his ancient
thews and sinews had proved insufficient for the task of
providing his cavernous belly with meat. For months he
had eaten less and less frequently, and farther and farther
had he roamed from his accustomed haunts in search of
easier prey. At last he had found nature's weakest and
most defenseless creature--in a moment more Numa would dine.
The Return of Tarzan |
