| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: advancing on both sides in parallel lines.
The Barbarians were frozen with a nameless terror. They did not even
try to flee. They already found themselves surrounded.
The elephants entered into this mass of men; and the spurs on their
breasts divided it, the lances on their tusks upturned it like
ploughshares; they cut, hewed, and hacked with the scythes on their
trunks; the towers, which were full of phalaricas, looked like
volcanoes on the march; nothing could be distinguished but a large
heap, whereon human flesh, pieces of brass and blood made white spots,
grey sheets and red fuses. The horrible animals dug out black furrows
as they passed through the midst of it all.
Salammbo |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War by Frederick A. Talbot: of 30 feet per second, which exceeded anything previously
achieved. The craft proved to be perfectly manageable in the
air, and answered her helm, thus complying with the terms of
dirigibility. The creator was flushed with his triumph, but at
the same time was doomed to experience misfortune. In its
descent the airship came to "earth" with such a shock that it was
extensively damaged. The cost of repairing the vessel was so
heavy that the company declined to shoulder the liability, and as
the Count was unable to defray the expense the wreck was
abandoned.
Although a certain meed of success had been achieved the outlook
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