| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Hidden Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac: lessens doubt; and modesty, perhaps, is doubt.
Worn down with poverty and discouragement, and dismayed at this moment
by his own presumption, the young neophyte might not have dared to
enter the presence of the master to whom we owe our admirable portrait
of Henry IV., if chance had not thrown an unexpected assistance in his
way. An old man mounted the spiral stairway. The oddity of his dress,
the magnificence of his lace ruffles, the solid assurance of his
deliberate step, led the youth to assume that this remarkable
personage must be the patron, or at least the intimate friend, of the
painter. He drew back into a corner of the landing and made room for
the new-comer; looking at him attentively and hoping to find either
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: fighting men, and a black chieftain like himself was fighting
shoulder to shoulder with the hideous pack that opposed him.
Kaviri battled bravely against his antagonist, for he felt
that death had already claimed him, and so the least that he
could do would be to sell his life as dearly as possible; but it
was soon evident that his best was quite futile when pitted
against the superhuman brawn and agility of the creature that
at last found his throat and bent him back into the bottom of
the canoe.
Presently Kaviri's head began to whirl--objects became
confused and dim before his eyes--there was a great pain in
The Beasts of Tarzan |
