| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll: always fell over him, so that the ground was soon covered with
little heaps of men.
Then came the horses. Having four feet, these managed rather
better than the foot-soldiers: but even THEY stumbled now and
then; and it seemed to be a regular rule that, whenever a horse
stumbled the rider fell off instantly. The confusion got worse
every moment, and Alice was very glad to get out of the wood into
an open place, where she found the White King seated on the
ground, busily writing in his memorandum-book.
`I've sent them all!' the King cried in a tone of delight, on
seeing Alice. `Did you happen to meet any soldiers, my dear, as
Through the Looking-Glass |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: sarily affected their conjugal relations, and the
decline of mutual sympathy inevitably induced
physical alienation. The stress of mental anguish
arising from these conditions found vent in pages
of his diaries (much of which I have been per-
mitted to read), pages containing matter too sa-
cred and intimate to use. The diaries shed a
flood of light on Tolstoy's ideas, motives, and
manner of life, and have modified some of my
opinions, explaining many hitherto obscure points,
while they have also enhanced my admiration for
The Forged Coupon |
