| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tom Sawyer Abroad by Mark Twain: long cloud of black smoke and now and then a little
puff of white; and when the white was gone so long
you had almost forgot it, you would hear a little faint
toot, and that was the whistle. And we left the bird
and the train both behind, 'WAY behind, and done it
easy, too.
But Tom he was huffy, and said me and Jim was a
couple of ignorant blatherskites, and then he says:
"Suppose there's a brown calf and a big brown dog,
and an artist is making a picture of them. What is the
MAIN thing that that artist has got to do? He has got
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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 Economist by Xenophon: everything that, even off the ship,[24] he could tell you where each
set of things was laid and how many there were of each, just as well
as any one who knows his alphabet[25] could tell you how many letters
there are in Socrates and the order in which they stand.
[23] Cf. "Pol. Ath." i. 1; Aristoph. "Knights," 543 foll.
[24] Or, "with his eyes shut, at a distance he could say exactly."
[25] Or, "how to spell." See "Mem." IV. iv. 7; Plat. "Alc." i. 113 A.
I saw this same man (continued Ischomachus) examining at leisure[26]
everything which could possibly[27] be needful for the service of the
ship. His inspection caused me such surprise, I asked him what he was
doing, whereupon he answered, "I am inspecting, stranger,"[28] "just
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