| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Hero of Our Time by M.Y. Lermontov: itself a real illness?"
The doctor was struck by that idea, and he
brightened up.
We mounted our horses. Werner clung on to
his bridle with both hands, and we set off. In a
trice we had galloped past the fortress, through
the village, and had ridden into the gorge. Our
winding road was half-overgrown with tall grass
and was intersected every moment by a noisy
brook, which we had to ford, to the great despair
of the doctor, because each time his horse would
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Agesilaus by Xenophon: Very gentle to his friends, to his enemies he was most terrible.
Whilst he could hold out against toil and trouble with the best,
nothing pleased him better than yielding to his comrades. But passion
was kindled in him by beauty of deed rather than of person.[9]
[9] Or, "beauteous deeds rather than bodily splendour."
Skilled in the exercise of self-command in the midst of external
welfare, he could be stout of heart enough in stress of danger.
Urbanity he practised, not with jest and witticisim, but by the
courtesy of his demeanour.
In spite of a certain haughtiness, he was never overbearing, but rich
in saving common sense. At any rate, while pouring contempt upon
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