| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: try and repeat the precise operations which he went through before you
began your ride. Any horse that having done his work shows a readiness
to undergo it all again, affords sufficient evidence thereby of spirit
and endurance.
[9] Reading {talla dineumata}, lit. "and the rest of his twistings and
twirlings about."
To put the matter in a nutshell: given that the horse is sound-footed,
gentle, moderately fast, willing and able to undergo toil, and above
all things[10] obedient--such an animal, we venture to predict, will
give the least trouble and the greatest security to his rider in the
circumstances of war; while, conversely, a beast who either out of
 On Horsemanship |
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: nervous excitement over the adventure of the coming
automobile.
As the hour of eight drew nearer, her doubts of the
propriety of going became more acute.
"What on earth has come over me in the past twenty-
four hours?" she asked of herself. "I've known
this man but a day. I don't KNOW him at all, and
yet I'm going to put my life in his hands in that
racing machine. Have I gone crazy?"
She was not in the least afraid of him. His face
and voice and personality all seemed familiar. Her
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