| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft: built over that former bed. The Old Ones, understanding what had
happened, and exercising their always keen artistic sense, had
carved into ornate pylons those headlands of the foothills where
the great stream began its descent into eternal darkness.
This
river, once crossed by scores of noble stone bridges, was plainly
the one whose extinct course we had seen in our aeroplane survey.
Its position in different carvings of the city helped us to orient
ourselves to the scene as it had been at various stages of the
region’s age-long, aeon-dead history, so that we were able to
sketch a hasty but careful map of the salient features - squares,
At the Mountains of Madness |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: examined whether the snow had so entirely melted from her hair
that the venerable cap could be safely thrown aside. At last,
turning briskly away, she came with a sort of dancing step to the
table.
"My dear old doctor," cried she, "pray favor me with another
glass!"
"Certainly, my dear madam, certainly!" replied the complaisant
doctor; "see! I have already filled the glasses."
There, in fact, stood the four glasses, brimful of this wonderful
water, the delicate spray of which, as it effervesced from the
surface, resembled the tremulous glitter of diamonds. It was now
Twice Told Tales |
