| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Silas Marner by George Eliot: after-dinner words of his father's to Mr. Lammeter he should be
thrown into the embarrassment of being obliged absolutely to decline
her when she seemed to be within his reach. He fled to his usual
refuge, that of hoping for some unforeseen turn of fortune, some
favourable chance which would save him from unpleasant consequences--
perhaps even justify his insincerity by manifesting its prudence.
And in this point of trusting to some throw of fortune's dice,
Godfrey can hardly be called specially old-fashioned. Favourable
Chance, I fancy, is the god of all men who follow their own devices
instead of obeying a law they believe in. Let even a polished man
of these days get into a position he is ashamed to avow, and his
Silas Marner |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Where There's A Will by Mary Roberts Rinehart: He was pretty well upset, as he might be, and she stood by and
listened to the things he said, which, if they were as bad in
English as they sounded in German, I wouldn't like to write down.
And when he cooled down and condensed, as you may say, into
English, he said Miss Jennings must have seen the letters, for
she would hardly speak to him. And Miss Summers said she hoped
Miss Jennings had--she was too nice a girl to treat shamefully.
And after he had left her there alone, I heard a sort of
scratching on the door behind Miss Summers' back, and then
something being shoved under the door. I stooped down and picked
it up. It was a key!
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