| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Bab:A Sub-Deb, Mary Roberts Rinehart by Mary Roberts Rinehart: she is not in Love with him."
"Leila is not one to care about Love," said Jane. "That makes it eazier."
"But whom?" I said. "Whom, Jane?"
We thought and thought, but of course it was hard, for we knew none
of those who filled my sister's life, or sent her flours and so on.
At last I said:
"There must be a way, Jane. THERE MUST BE. And if not, I shall make
one. For I am desparate. The mere thought of going back to school,
when I am as old as at present and engaged also, is madening."
But Jane held out a warning hand.
"Go slow, dearie," she said, in a solemn tone. "Do nothing rash.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Charmides by Plato: And in all that concerns either body or soul, swiftness and activity are
clearly better than slowness and quietness?
Clearly they are.
Then temperance is not quietness, nor is the temperate life quiet,--
certainly not upon this view; for the life which is temperate is supposed
to be the good. And of two things, one is true,--either never, or very
seldom, do the quiet actions in life appear to be better than the quick and
energetic ones; or supposing that of the nobler actions, there are as many
quiet, as quick and vehement: still, even if we grant this, temperance
will not be acting quietly any more than acting quickly and energetically,
either in walking or talking or in anything else; nor will the quiet life
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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 Twilight Land by Howard Pyle: hubbub as had not been heard there for many a day; for the pretty
princess was not slow in telling how the invisible King of the
Wind had come and asked her to marry him; and some said it was
true and some said it was not true, and everybody wondered and
talked, and told their own notions of the matter. But all agreed
that three days would show whether what had been told was true or
no.
As for the soldier, he knew no more how to do what he had
promised to do than my grandmother's cat; for where was he to get
clothes fine enough for the King of the Wind to wear? So there he
sat on his three-legged stool thinking and thinking, and if he
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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 On Horsemanship by Xenophon: waggon loads of pebbles, each as large as can be grasped in the hand,
and about a pound in weight; the whole to be fenced round with a
skirting of iron to prevent scattering. The mere standing on these
will come to precisely the same thing as if for a certain portion of
the day the horse were, off and on, stepping along a stony road;
whilst being curried or when fidgeted by flies he will be forced to
use his hoofs just as much as if he were walking. Nor is it the hoofs
merely, but a surface so strewn with stones will tend to harden the
frog of the foot also.
[7] Lit. "A damp and smooth floor may be the ruin of a naturally good
hoof." It will be understood that the Greeks did not shoe their
On Horsemanship |
