| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes: of some trifling, tender reminiscence, drew a long breath, with
such a tremor in it that a little more and it would have been a
sob, why, then I felt there must be something of nature in them
which redeemed their seeming insignificance. Tell me, man or woman
with whom I am whispering, have you not a small store of
recollections, such as these I am uncovering, buried beneath the
dead leaves of many summers, perhaps under the unmelting snows of
fast-returning winters, - a few such recollections, which, if you
should write them all out, would be swept into some careless
editor's drawer, and might cost a scanty half-hour's lazy reading
to his subscribers, - and yet, if Death should cheat you of them,
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: the text, on the whole, is quite satisfactory for the casual
reader, a transformation made possible by conversion to an etext.
However, I come away from this task with the feeling of loss
because I know that someone with a background in Chinese can do a
better job than I did; any such attempt would be welcomed.
Bob Sutton
al876@cleveland.freenet.edu
bobs@gnu.ai.mit.edu
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INTRODUCTION
Sun Wu and his Book
The Art of War |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Dust by Mr. And Mrs. Haldeman-Julius: receiver as her hands came together.
As though she were talking to a person instead of the telephone
before her, she gasped: "So--so THIS is what it has all been
for--this. Into the world, into Martin's world--and this way out
of it. Burned to death--Billy."
The rain had lessened a little and now the wind began to shake
the house, rattle the windows and scream as it tore its way over
the plains. The sky flared white and the world lighted up
suddenly, as though the sun had been turned on from an electric
switch. At the same instant she saw a bolt of lightning strike a
young tree by the roadside, heard the sharp click as it hit and
|
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 The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle: at the yeomen; but when the four men saw the hounds so coming,
all with one accord, saving only Will Scarlet, drew each man
his goose feather to his ear and let fly his shaft.
And now the old ballad telleth of a wondrous thing that happened, for thus
it says, that each dog so shot at leaped lightly aside, and as the arrow
passed him whistling, caught it in his mouth and bit it in twain.
Now it would have been an ill day for these four good fellows
had not Will Scarlet stepped before the others and met the hounds
as they came rushing. "Why, how now, Fangs!" cried he sternly.
"Down, Beauty! Down, sirrah! What means this?"
At the sound of his voice each dog shrank back quickly and then
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood |
