| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne: by--his prudence had triumphed: as it was, he was determined to have his
revenge.
Small curses, Dr. Slop, upon great occasions, quoth my father (condoling
with him first upon the accident) are but so much waste of our strength and
soul's health to no manner of purpose.--I own it, replied Dr. Slop.--They
are like sparrow-shot, quoth my uncle Toby (suspending his whistling) fired
against a bastion.--They serve, continued my father, to stir the humours--
but carry off none of their acrimony:--for my own part, I seldom swear or
curse at all--I hold it bad--but if I fall into it by surprize, I generally
retain so much presence of mind (right, quoth my uncle Toby) as to make it
answer my purpose--that is, I swear on till I find myself easy. A wife and
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: case, we confined ourselves to advising the purchaser before he
concluded his bargain to test whether the horse could do those
particular things;[3] what we are now maintaining is that the owner
ought to teach his own horse, and we will explain how this teaching is
to be done.
[2] Or, "treating of a topic already handled."
[3] i.e. possessed a certain ability at the date of purchase.
With a horse entirely ignorant of leaping, the best way is to take him
by the leading rein, which hangs loose, and to get across the trench
yourself first, and then to pull tight on the leading-rein, to induce
him to leap across. If he refuses, some one with a whip or switch
On Horsemanship |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Muse of the Department by Honore de Balzac: sacrifice to necessity; polish the style, work up the subject.--I have
played the fine lady too long; I am going to be the housewife and
attend to business."
For the last four months Etienne had been taking Dinah to the Cafe
Riche to dine every day, a corner being always kept for them. The
countrywoman was in dismay at being told that five hundred francs were
owing for the last fortnight.
"What! we have been drinking wine at six francs a bottle! A sole
/Normande/ costs five francs!--and twenty centimes for a roll?" she
exclaimed, as she looked through the bill Lousteau showed her.
"Well, it makes very little difference to us whether we are robbed at
The Muse of the Department |
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 Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: and forth below him, Lord Greystoke filled his savage belly,
nor ever in the choicest of his exclusive London clubs had a
meal tasted more palatable.
The warm blood of his kill smeared his hands and face
and filled his nostrils with the scent that the savage
carnivora love best.
And when he had finished he left the balance of the carcass
in a high fork of the tree where he had dined, and with Numa
trailing below him, still keen for revenge, he made his way
back to his tree-top shelter, where he slept until the sun was
high the following morning.
The Beasts of Tarzan |
