The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Mosses From An Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne: sleep; for, so soon as the first ray of sunshine rested on the
top of the highest tree, he reared himself painfully from his
recumbent posture and sat erect. The deep lines of his
countenance and the scattered gray of his hair marked him as past
the middle age; but his muscular frame would, but for the effect
of his wound, have been as capable of sustaining fatigue as in
the early vigor of life. Languor and exhaustion now sat upon his
haggard features; and the despairing glance which he sent forward
through the depths of the forest proved his own conviction that
his pilgrimage was at an end. He next turned his eyes to the
companion who reclined by his side. The youth--for he had
Mosses From An Old Manse |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Criminal Sociology by Enrico Ferri: robbery or other kinds of crime, and honest industry. ``They are
criminals just as others are good workingmen,'' says Frgier;
and, as Romagnosi put it, actual punishment affects them
much less than the menace of punishment, or does not affect them
at all, since they regard imprisonment as a natural risk of their
occupation, as masons regard the fall of a roof, or as miners
regard fire-damp. ``They do not suffer in prison. They are like
a painter in his studio, dreaming of their next masterpiece. They
are on good terms with their gaolers, and even know how to make
themselves useful.''[5]
[5] Moreau, ``Souvenirs de la petite et grande Roquette,'' Paris,
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