| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Polity of Athenians and Lacedaemonians by Xenophon: owners[6] are to leave behind the food that has been dressed; and the
party in need will open the seals, take out what they want, seal up
the remainder, and leave it. Accordingly, by his system of give-and-
take even those with next to nothing[7] have a share in all that the
country can supply, if ever they stand in need of anything.
[6] Reading {pepamenous}, or if {pepasmenous}, "who have already
finished their repasts."
[7] See Aristot. "Pol." ii. 9 (Jowett, i. pp. xlii. and 52); Muller,
"Dorians," iii. 10, 1 (vol. ii. 197, Eng. tr.)
VII
There are yet other customs in Sparta which Lycurgus instituted in
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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 Foolish Virgin by Thomas Dixon: the eyes of a snake its victim. She would not let him
know her terror of blindness. She preferred death
a thousand times. If he would only kill her outright
it was all the mercy she would ask.
"You--won't--kill--me--Jim!" she sobbed. "Please--
please, don't kill me!"
He lifted his sharp finger and followed her toward
the shed-room door, his voice the triumphant cry of an
eagle above his prey.
"`FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE--UNTIL DEATH DO US PART!'"
Her heart gave a bound of cowardly joy. He had
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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 Alcibiades I by Plato: nothing, beginning with the body, and ending with the soul. In the first
place, you say to yourself that you are the fairest and tallest of the
citizens, and this every one who has eyes may see to be true; in the second
place, that you are among the noblest of them, highly connected both on the
father's and the mother's side, and sprung from one of the most
distinguished families in your own state, which is the greatest in Hellas,
and having many friends and kinsmen of the best sort, who can assist you
when in need; and there is one potent relative, who is more to you than all
the rest, Pericles the son of Xanthippus, whom your father left guardian of
you, and of your brother, and who can do as he pleases not only in this
city, but in all Hellas, and among many and mighty barbarous nations.
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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 Lemorne Versus Huell by Elizabeth Drew Stoddard: in the world. But for my life-long habit of never calling in
question the behavior of those I came in contact with, and of never
expecting any thing different from that I received, I might have
wondered over his visit. Every person's individuality was sacred to
me, from the fact, perhaps, that my own individuality had never
been respected by any person with whom I had any relation--not even
by my own mother.
After Mr. Uxbridge went, I asked Aunt Eliza if she thought he
looked mean and cunning? She laughed, and replied that she was
bound to think that Mr. Lemorne's lawyer could not look otherwise.
When, on the night of the ball, I presented myself in the rose-
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