| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Beast in the Jungle by Henry James: more time to the odd accident of his lapse of memory if he hadn't
been moved to devote so much to the sweetness, the comfort, as he
felt, for the future, that this accident itself had helped to keep
fresh. It had never entered into his plan that any one should
"know", and mainly for the reason that it wasn't in him to tell any
one. That would have been impossible, for nothing but the
amusement of a cold world would have waited on it. Since, however,
a mysterious fate had opened his mouth betimes, in spite of him, he
would count that a compensation and profit by it to the utmost.
That the right person SHOULD know tempered the asperity of his
secret more even than his shyness had permitted him to imagine; and
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Betty Zane by Zane Grey: Zanesville, Martin's Ferry, and Bridgeport. He died in 1811.
Isaac Zane received from the government a patent of ten thousand acres of land
on Mad river. He established his home in the center of this tract, where he
lived with the Wyandot until his death. A white settlement sprang up,
prospered, and grew, and today it is the thriving city of Zanesfield.
Jonathan Zane settled down after peace was declared with the Indians, found
himself a wife, and eventually became an influential citizen. However, he
never lost his love for the wild woods. At times he would take down the old
rifle and disappear for two or three days. He always returned cheerful and
happy from these lonely hunts.
Wetzel alone did not take kindly to the march of civilization; but then he was
Betty Zane |
