The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Mansion by Henry van Dyke: trails
emerging from the woodlands. But on the hillside the threads
were more
firmly woven into one clear band of travel, though there were
still
a few dim paths joining it here and there, as if persons had been
climbing up the hill by other ways and had turned at last to seek
the road.
From the edge of the hill, where John Weightman sat, he could see
the travelers, in little groups or larger companies, gathering
from
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Adam Bede by George Eliot: completely himself again, and with his black eyes as keen as ever
and his thick black hair all glistening with the fresh moisture,
he went into the workshop to look out the wood for his father's
coffin, intending that he and Seth should carry it with them to
Jonathan Burge's and have the coffin made by one of the workmen
there, so that his mother might not see and hear the sad task
going forward at home.
He had just gone into the workshop when his quick ear detected a
light rapid foot on the stairs--certainly not his mother's. He
had been in bed and asleep when Dinah had come in, in the evening,
and now he wondered whose step this could be. A foolish thought
 Adam Bede |