| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Father Sergius by Leo Tolstoy: place to place instead of working.
They spoke French, thinking that the others would not understand
them.
'Demandez-leur,' said the Frenchman, 's'ils sont bien sur de ce
que leur pelerinage est agreable a Dieu.'
The question was asked, and one old woman replied:
'As God takes it. Our feet have reached the holy places, but our
hearts may not have done so.'
They asked the soldier. He said that he was alone in the world
and had nowhere else to go.
They asked Kasatsky who he was.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Polity of Athenians and Lacedaemonians by Xenophon: there are many exceptional[4] dishes in the shape of game supplied
from the hunting field. Or, as a substitute for these, rich men will
occasionally garnish the feast with wheaten loaves. So that from
beginning to end, till the mess breaks up, the common board is never
stinted for viands, nor yet extravagantly furnished.
[3] See Plut. "Lycurg." 12 (Clough, i. 97).
[4] {paraloga}, i.e. unexpected dishes, technically named {epaikla}
(hors d'oeuvres), as we learn from Athenaeus, iv. 140, 141.
So also in the matter of drink. Whilst putting a stop to all
unnecessary potations, detrimental alike to a firm brain and a steady
gait,[5] he left them free to quench thirst when nature dictated[6]; a
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