| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: freedom,[11] and his hand the firmest hold.
[9] i.e. "below the knee"; "shin and calf."
[10] Lit. "pulled up" (and arranged the folds of his mantle).
[11] {eustalestatos}, "the most business-like deportment."
As to reins, we recommend those which are well balanced, without being
weak or slippery or thick, so that when necessary, the hand which
holds them can also grasp a spear.
As soon as the rider gives the signal to the horse to start,[12] he
should begin at a walking pace, which will tend to allay his
excitement. If the horse is inclined to droop his head, the reins
should be held pretty high; or somewhat low, if he is disposed to
On Horsemanship |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson: "You shall pay pretty dear for this," says the Master.
"I have paid so dear already for a wicked brother," said Mr. Henry,
"that I am bankrupt even of fears. You have no place left where
you can strike me."
"I will show you about that," says the Master, and went softly
away.
"What will he do next, Mackellar?" cries Mr. Henry.
"Let me go away," said I. "My dear patron, let me go away; I am
but the beginning of fresh sorrows."
"Would you leave me quite alone?" said he.
We were not long in suspense as to the nature of the new assault.
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Adieu by Honore de Balzac: endeavored to awaken in her a few ideas, a few memories of the past;
but he failed; all that he gained was to make her say that melancholy
word a little oftener. Still, the grenadier knew how to amuse her and
play with her; my hope was in him, but--"
He was silent for a moment.
"Here," he continued, "she has found another creature, with whom she
seems to have some strange understanding. It is a poor idiotic
peasant-girl, who, in spite of her ugliness and stupidity, loved a
man, a mason. The mason was willing to marry her, as she had some
property. Poor Genevieve was happy for a year; she dressed in her best
to dance with her lover on Sunday; she comprehended love; in her heart
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from A Book of Remarkable Criminals by H. B. Irving: Vitalis would have concealed from the young girl as long as he
could the nature of his relations with Madame Boyer, but his
mistress by her own deliberate conduct made all concealment
impossible. Whether from the utter recklessness of her passion
for Vitalis, or a desire to kill in her daughter's heart any
attachment which she may have felt towards her lover, the mother
paraded openly before her daughter the intimacy of her relations
with Vitalis, and with the help of the literature with which the
young bookseller supplied her, set about corrupting her child's
mind to her own depraved level. The effect of her extraordinary
conduct was, however, the opposite to what she had intended.
A Book of Remarkable Criminals |
