| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from An International Episode by Henry James: Mrs. Westgate's discourse, delivered in a soft, sweet voice,
flowed on like a miniature torrent, and was interrupted by a
hundred little smiles, glances, and gestures, which might have
figured the irregularities and obstructions of such a stream.
Lord Lambeth listened to her with, it must be confessed,
a rather ineffectual attention, although he indulged in a good
many little murmurs and ejaculations of assent and deprecation.
He had no great faculty for apprehending generalizations.
There were some three or four indeed which, in the play
of his own intelligence, he had originated, and which had
seemed convenient at the moment; but at the present time
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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 Heritage of the Desert by Zane Grey: "Five thousand head."
"Dave!" His father's tone was incredulous.
"Yes. You know we haven't been back in there for years. The stock has
multiplied rapidly in spite of the lions and wolves. Not only that, but
they're safe from the winter, and are not likely to be found by Dene or
anybody else."
"How do you make that out?"
"The first cattle we drove in used to come back here to Silver Cup to
winter. Then they stopped coming, and we almost forgot them. Well,
they've got a trail round under the Saddle, and they go down and winter
in the canyon. In summer they head up those rocky gullies, but they
The Heritage of the Desert |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Chouans by Honore de Balzac: which were somewhat loud, she could hear within the lugubrious moans
of a human being, which added to her terror. Rays of light coming down
the steps made her fear that this retreat was only too well known to
her enemies, and, to escape them, she summoned fresh energy. Some
moments later, after recovering her composure of mind, it was
difficult for her to conceive by what means she had been able to climb
a little wall, in a recess of which she was now hidden. She took no
notice at first of the cramped position in which she was, but before
long the pain of it became intolerable, for she was bending double
under the arched opening of a vault, like the crouching Venus which
ignorant persons attempt to squeeze into too narrow a niche. The wall,
The Chouans |
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 On Revenues by Xenophon: [14] = L4:1:3 = 600 ob.
[15] Or, "whose incomes would vary in proportion to their working
capital."
[16] See Jebb, "Theophr." xxvi. 21.
[17] According to the ancient authorities the citizens of Athens
numbered about 21,000 at this date, which would give about 63,000
as the number of state-slaves contemplated for the purposes of the
scheme. See Zurborg, "Comm." p. 29. "At a census taken in B.C. 309
the number of slaves was returned at 400,000, and it does not seem
likely that there were fewer at any time during the classical
period."--"A Companion to School Classics" (James Gow), p. 101,
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