| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Old Indian Legends by Zitkala-Sa: Shifting to the right of them they hopped round and round in that
blind dance. It was a difficult dance for the curious folk.
At length one of the dancers could close his eyes no longer!
It was a Skiska who peeped the least tiny blink at Iktomi within
the center of the circle. "Oh! oh!" squawked he in awful terror!
"Run! fly! Iktomi is twisting your heads and breaking your necks!
Run out and fly! fly!" he cried. Hereupon the ducks opened their
eyes. There beside Iktomi's bundle of songs lay half of their
crowd--flat on their backs.
Out they flew through the opening Skiska had made as he rushed
forth with his alarm.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac: of your marrying Gorenflot; but, to get married, you must hold your
tongue. If not, no wedding gift!'
" 'Rosalie,' said Madame de Merret, 'come and brush my hair.'
"Her husband quietly walked up and down the room, keeping an eye on
the door, on the mason, and on his wife, but without any insulting
display of suspicion. Gorenflot could not help making some noise.
Madame de Merret seized a moment when he was unloading some bricks,
and when her husband was at the other end of the room to say to
Rosalie: 'My dear child, I will give you a thousand francs a year if
only you will tell Gorenflot to leave a crack at the bottom.' Then she
added aloud quite coolly: 'You had better help him.'
 La Grande Breteche |