| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Hellenica by Xenophon: It was not the first mission of the sort on which Cinadon had been
employed by the ephors. It was natural, therefore, that the ephors
should entrust him with the scytale on which the names of the suspects
were inscribed; and in answer to his inquiry which of the young men he
was to take with him, they said: "Go and order the eldest of the
Hippagretae[11] (or commanders of horse) to let you have six or seven
who chance to be there." But they had taken care to let the commander
know whom he was to send, and that those sent should also know that
their business was to capture Cinadon. Further, the authorities
instructed Cinadon that they would send three waggons to save bringing
back his captives on foot--concealing as deeply as possible the fact
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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 Muse of the Department by Honore de Balzac: other, and put on a deeply serious expression to listen to Madame de
la Baudraye, who made them a set speech of thanks for coming to cheer
the monotony of her days. Dinah walked her guests round and round the
lawn, ornamented with large vases of flowers, which lay in front of
the Chateau d'Anzy.
"How is it," said Lousteau, the practical joker, "that so handsome a
woman as you, and apparently so superior, should have remained buried
in the country? What do you do to make life endurable?"
"Ah! that is the crux," said the lady. "It is unendurable. Utter
despair or dull resignation--there is no third alternative; that is
the arid soil in which our existence is rooted, and on which a
The Muse of the Department |
