| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Melmoth Reconciled by Honore de Balzac: What had become of his predecessor?
The Englishman was living in a mansion in the Rue Ferou, near Saint-
Sulpice--a gloomy, dark, damp, and cold abode. The Rue Ferou itself is
one of the most dismal streets in Paris; it has a north aspect like
all the streets that lie at right angles to the left bank of the
Seine, and the houses are in keeping with the site. As Castanier stood
on the threshold he found that the door itself, like the vaulted roof,
was hung with black; rows of lighted tapers shone brilliantly as
though some king were lying in state; and a priest stood on either
side of a catafalque that had been raised there.
"There is no need to ask why you have come, sir," the old hall porter
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Dreams by Olive Schreiner: seize one of the mighty tools which lay there. I could not lift it from
the earth.
God said, "Where hast THOU earned the strength to raise it? Take up thy
mantle."
And I took up my mantle and followed where God called me; but I looked
back, and I saw the crown burning, my crown that I had loved.
Higher and higher we climbed, and the air grew thinner. Not a tree or
plant was on the bare rocks, and the stillness was unbroken. My breath
came hard and quick, and the blood crept within my finger-tips. I said to
God, "Is this Heaven?"
God said, "Yes; it is the highest."
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