| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Sportsman by Xenophon: what sort are required by any one wishing to enter this field? A
list of these I propose to give, not omitting the theoretical side
of the matter in each case, so that whoever lays his hand to this
work may have some knowledge to go upon. It would be a mistake to
regard these details as trivial. In fact, without them the
undertaking might as well be let alone."
The net-keeper should be a man with a real passion for the work, and
in tongue a Hellene, about twenty years of age, of wiry build, agile
at once and strong, with pluck enough to overcome the toils imposed on
him,[2] and to take pleasure in the work.
[2] {toutous}, "by this, that, or the other good quality."
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Poems by Oscar Wilde: sheet,
And steered across the bay, and when nine suns
Passed down the long and laddered way of gold,
And nine pale moons had breathed their orisons
To the chaste stars their confessors, or told
Their dearest secret to the downy moth
That will not fly at noonday, through the foam and surging froth
Came a great owl with yellow sulphurous eyes
And lit upon the ship, whose timbers creaked
As though the lading of three argosies
Were in the hold, and flapped its wings and shrieked,
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