| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Eryxias by Platonic Imitator: writer. (2) The resolution of wealth into its simplest implements going on
to infinity is a subtle and refined thought. (3) That wealth is relative
to circumstances is a sound conception. (4) That the arts and sciences
which receive payment are likewise to be comprehended under the notion of
wealth, also touches a question of modern political economy. (5) The
distinction of post hoc and propter hoc, often lost sight of in modern as
well as in ancient times. These metaphysical conceptions and distinctions
show considerable power of thought in the writer, whatever we may think of
his merits as an imitator of Plato.
ERYXIAS
by
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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 Case of the Golden Bullet by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: because the legacy Kniepp left you will put you out of reach of
want."
The detective was as much surprised as anybody. He was as if dazed
by his unexpected good fortune. The day before he was a poor man
bowed under the weight of sordid cares, and now he was the possessor
of twenty thousand gulden. And it was not his clever brain but his
warm heart that had won this fortune for him. His breast swelled
with gratitude as he thought of the unhappy man whose life had been
ruined by the careless cruelty of others and his own passions.
Again and again he read the letter which had been found on Kniepp's
desk, addressed to him and which had been handed out to him after
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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 The Copy-Cat & Other Stories by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: raised whirlwinds with hers. The Hempstead yard
was large and deep, and had two great squares given
over to wild growths on either side of the gravel walk,
which was bordered with shrubs, flowering in their
turn, like a class of children at school saying their
lessons. The spring shrubs had all spelled out their
floral recitations, of course, but great clumps of
peonies were spreading wide skirts of gigantic bloom,
like dancers courtesying low on the stage of summer,
and shafts of green-white Yucca lilies and Japan
lilies and clove-pinks still remained in their school
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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 The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: herself on the wire net-work of the cage.
They were rough-and-ready summaries, the work of a night. Two
hangings, one above the other, the upper one flat, the lower
concave and ballasted with stalactites of grains of sand, formed
the new home, which, strengthened daily by fresh layers, promised
to become similar to the old one. Why does the Spider desert her
former mansion, which is in no way dilapidated--far from it--and
still exceedingly serviceable, as far as one can judge? Unless I
am mistaken, I think I have an inkling of the reason.
The old cabin, comfortably wadded though it be, possesses serious
disadvantages: it is littered with the ruins of the children's
The Life of the Spider |
