| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Faith of Men by Jack London: he had once killed a polar bear, and in the vigour of his pantomime
nearly slew his mother's brother. But nobody heeded. The woman
Ipsukuk fell to weeping for a son lost long years agone in the ice,
and the shaman made incantation and prophecy. So it went, and
before morning they were all on the floor, sleeping soundly with
the gods.
"The story tells itself, does it not? The news of the magic potion
spread. It was too marvellous for utterance. Tongues could tell
but a tithe of the miracles it performed. It eased pain, gave
surcease to sorrow, brought back old memories, dead faces, and
forgotten dreams. It was a fire that ate through all the blood,
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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 Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy: all directions. During the progress of the fight Ivan tore out a
large quantity of Gavryl's beard.
By this time a large crowd of peasants had collected, and it was
with the greatest difficulty that they persuaded the two families
to stop quarrelling.
This was the beginning.
Gavryl took the portion of his beard which Ivan had torn out,
and, wrapping it in a paper, went to the volostnoye (moujiks'
court) and entered a complaint against Ivan.
Holding up the hair, he said, "I did not grow this for that bear
Ivan to tear out!"
The Kreutzer Sonata |
