| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Europeans by Henry James: "Wait till to-morrow," rejoined the young man.
"Yes, we have made a great mistake. If there is any doubt about it to-day,
there certainly will be none to-morrow. Ce sera clair, au moins!"
The young man was silent a few moments, driving his pencil.
Then at last, "There are no such things as mistakes," he affirmed.
"Very true--for those who are not clever enough to perceive them.
Not to recognize one's mistakes--that would be happiness in life,"
the lady went on, still looking at her pretty foot.
"My dearest sister," said the young man, always intent upon his drawing,
"it 's the first time you have told me I am not clever."
"Well, by your own theory I can't call it a mistake,"
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Soul of a Bishop by H. G. Wells: them in a tongue the majority did not use, and then prevailing.
They ceased their interruptions, and the old man, Arius, took up
the debate. For a time all those impassioned faces were intent
upon him; they listened as though they sought occasion, and
suddenly as if by a preconcerted arrangement they were all
thrusting their fingers into their ears and knitting their brows
in assumed horror; some were crying aloud and making as if to
fly. Some indeed tucked up their garments and fled. They spread
out into a pattern. They were like the little monks who run from
St. Jerome's lion in the picture by Carpaccio. Then one zealot
rushed forward and smote the old man heavily upon the mouth....
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