| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: "Oh, Ginevra!" he cried.
She gave a convulsive bound in her chair, and blushed.
"Could I sleep while you were wearing yourself out with toil?" she
said.
"But to me alone belongs the right to work in this way," he answered.
"Could I be idle," she asked, her eyes filling with tears, "when I
know that every mouthful we eat costs a drop of your blood? I should
die if I could not add my efforts to yours. All should be in common
between us: pains and pleasures, both."
"She is cold!" cried Luigi, in despair. "Wrap your shawl closer round
you, my own Ginevra; the night is damp and chilly."
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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 Reign of King Edward the Third by William Shakespeare: To do a message to thee from the king.
The mighty king of England dotes on thee:
He that hath power to take away thy life,
Hath power to take thy honor; then consent
To pawn thine honor rather than thy life:
Honor is often lost and got again,
But life, once gone, hath no recovery.
The Sun, that withers hay, doth nourish grass;
The king, that would disdain thee, will advance thee.
The Poets write that great Achilles' spear
Could heal the wound it made: the moral is,
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