| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela: The fight was swift and fierce as a duel between men.
As though moved by springs, the roosters flew at each
other. Their feathers stood up on their arched necks;
their combs were erect, their legs taut. For an instant
they swung in the air without even touching the ground,
their feathers, beaks, and claws lost in a dizzy whirl-
wind. The red rooster suddenly broke, tossed with his
legs to heaven outside the chalk lines. His vermilion eyes
closed slowly, revealing eyelids of pink coral; his tangled
feathers quivered and shook convulsively amid a pool of
blood.
The Underdogs |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: He glanced at my bandaged arm.
"The announcement says two miles," McKnight put in, "but we should
like to know whether it is railroad miles, automobile miles, or
policeman miles."
"I am sorry I can't tell you," he replied, more civilly. "We get
those pictures by contract. We don't take them ourselves."
"Where are the company's offices?"
"New York." He stepped forward and grasped a super by the shoulder.
"What in blazes are you doing with that gold chair in a kitchen set?
Take that piece of pink plush there and throw it over a soap box, if
you haven't got a kitchen chair."
The Man in Lower Ten |
