| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Bureaucracy by Honore de Balzac: him; she would even be, if needful, his secretary; she would sit up
all night to do the work! All this to drive in the Bois in a pretty
carriage, to equal Madame Delphine de Nucingen, to raise her salon to
the level of Madame Colleville's, to be invited to the great
ministerial solemnities, to win listeners and make them talk of her as
"Madame Rabourdin DE something or other" (she had not yet determined
on the estate), just as they did of Madame Firmiani, Madame d'Espard,
Madame d'Aiglemont, Madame de Carigliano, and thus efface forever the
odious name of Rabourdin.
These secret schemes brought some changes into the household. Madame
Rabourdin began to walk with a firm step in the path of DEBT. She set
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Redheaded Outfield by Zane Grey: Gilbat had executed one of his famous tricks.
Ball players were inclined to be dignified about
the presentation of gifts upon the field, and
Clammer, the dude, the swell, the lady's man, the
favorite of the baseball gods--in his own estimation--
so far lost control of himself that he threw
his bat at his retreating tormentor. Red jumped
high and the bat skipped along the ground toward
the bench. The players sidestepped and leaped
and, of course, the bat cracked one of Delaney's
big shins. His eyes popped with pain, but he
 The Redheaded Outfield |