| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad: hammock. Nina put the lamp out and passed into a large room she
shared with her mother on the left of the central passage.
Entering, she saw that Mrs. Almayer had deserted the pile of mats
serving her as bed in one corner of the room, and was now bending
over the opened lid of her large wooden chest. Half a shell of
cocoanut filled with oil, where a cotton rag floated for a wick,
stood on the floor, surrounding her with a ruddy halo of light
shining through the black and odorous smoke. Mrs. Almayer's back
was bent, and her head and shoulders hidden in the deep box. Her
hands rummaged in the interior, where a soft clink as of silver
money could be heard. She did not notice at first her daughter's
Almayer's Folly |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Catherine de Medici by Honore de Balzac: Lecoigneux, Lescalopier, Goix, Arnauld, those famous sheriffs and
grand-provosts of the merchants, among whom the throne found such
strong defenders.
Therefore, in order that Christophe might in due course of time
maintain his rank, he wished to marry him to the daughter of the
richest jeweller in the city, his friend Lallier, whose nephew was
destined to present to Henri IV. the keys of Paris. The strongest
desire rooted in the heart of the worthy burgher was to use half of
his fortune and half of that of the jeweller in the purchase of a
large and beautiful seignorial estate, which, in those days, was a
long and very difficult affair. But his shrewd mind knew the age in
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