| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Fisherman's Luck by Henry van Dyke: "FISHER.--No, I do not think there are any published. Brother
Jonathan is not yet sufficiently civilized to produce anything
original on the gentle art. There is good trout-fishing in America,
and the streams, which are all free, are much less fished than in
our Island, 'from the small number of gentlemen,' as an American
writer says, 'who are at leisure to give their time to it.'"
--WILLIAM ANDREW CHATTO: The Angler's Souvenir (London, 1835).
That wise man and accomplished scholar, Sir Henry Wotton, the friend
of Izaak Walton and ambassador of King James I to the republic of
Venice, was accustomed to say that "he would rather live five May
months than forty Decembers." The reason for this preference was no
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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 Apology by Xenophon: to numbers of friends the counsels of heaven, I have never at any time
been shown to be a deceiver or deceived."
[20] Cf. "Mem." I. i. 2.
[21] Cf. Plat. "Apol." 19.
[22] Cf. "Anab." III. ii. 11; Aristoph. "Birds," 720.
[23] Delphi.
[24] Or, "the objects that meet us." See Prof. Jebb ad Theophr. "Ch."
xxviii. 5.
As they listened to these words the judges murmured their dissent,
some as disbelieving what was said, and others out of simple envy that
Socrates should actually receive from heaven more than they
The Apology |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Vailima Prayers & Sabbath Morn by Robert Louis Stevenson: purpose of joining in family worship; and the road through the bush
was dark, and, to the Samoan imagination, beset with supernatural
terrors. Wherefore, as soon as our household had fallen into a
regular routine, and the bonds of Samoan family life began to draw
us more closely together, Tusitala felt the necessity of including
our retainers in our evening devotions. I suppose ours was the
only white man's family in all Samoa, except those of the
missionaries, where the day naturally ended with this homely,
patriarchal custom. Not only were the religious scruples of the
natives satisfied, but, what we did not foresee, our own
respectability - and incidentally that of our retainers - became
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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 Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: and the Spaniards, provided, by the count's liberality, with a competency
that ensured them from want, were despatched to their native shores.
The leave taking was accompanied by genuine tokens of regard and goodwill.
For Isaac Hakkabut alone there was no feeling of regret.
Doubly ruined by the loss of his tartan, and by the abandonment
of his fortune, he disappeared entirely from the scene.
It is needless to say that no one troubled himself to institute
a search after him, and, as Ben Zoof sententiously remarked,
"Perhaps old Jehoram is making money in America by exhibiting
himself as the latest arrival from a comet!"
But however great was the reserve which Captain Servadac might make
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