| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: moments her cheek would flush, her idle hands would lay the muslin
sewing on the polished oak counter, and presently her mother would say
in a voice, of which even the softest tones were sour, "Augustine, my
treasure, what are you thinking about?" It is possible that two
romances discovered by Augustine in the cupboard of a cook Madame
Guillaume had lately discharged--/Hippolyte Comte de Douglas/ and /Le
Comte de Comminges/--may have contributed to develop the ideas of the
young girl, who had devoured them in secret, during the long nights of
the past winter.
And so Augustine's expression of vague longing, her gentle voice, her
jasmine skin, and her blue eyes had lighted in poor Lebas' soul a
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Several Works by Edgar Allan Poe: the inmost recesses of catacombs. I paused again, and this time I
made bold to seize Fortunato by an arm above the elbow.
"The nitre!" I said; "see, it increases. It hangs like moss
upon the vaults. We are below the river's bed. The drops of
moisture trickle among the bones. Come, we will go back ere it is
too late. Your cough--"
"It is nothing," he said; "let us go on. But first, another
draught of the Medoc."
I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grave. He emptied it
at a breath. His eyes flashed with a fierce light. He laughed and
threw the bottle upwards with a gesticulation I did not understand.
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