| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Master of the World by Jules Verne: For it was there that I was bound, as usual. If they accompanied me I
might be able to offer them a hospitality for which they would scarce
thank me.
I took my hat; and while the housekeeper remained peeping from the
window, I went down stairs, opened the door, and stepped into the
street.
The two men were no longer there.
Despite all my watchfulness, that day I saw no more of them as I
passed along the streets. From that time on, indeed, neither my old
servant nor I saw them again before the house, nor did I encounter
them elsewhere. Their appearance, however, was stamped upon my
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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 Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum: short, more was taken from the great storehouses of the Ruler, which
were afterward filled up again when there was more of any article than
the people needed.
Every one worked half the time and played half the time, and the
people enjoyed the work as much as they did the play, because it is
good to be occupied and to have something to do. There were no cruel
overseers set to watch them, and no one to rebuke them or to find
fault with them. So each one was proud to do all he could for his
friends and neighbors, and was glad when they would accept the things
he produced.
You will know by what I have here told you, that the Land of Oz was a
 The Emerald City of Oz |