| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Sportsman by Xenophon: must attach the nooses equally on the points; and see that the props
are regularly fixed, raising the pouch towards the middle;[12] and
into the slip-rope he must insert a large, long stone, to prevent the
net from stretching in the opposite direction, when it has got the
hare inside. He will fix the rows of poles with stretches of net
sufficiently high to prevent the creature leaping over.[13] In
hunting, "no procrastination" should be the motto, since it is
sportsmanlike at once and a proof of energy by all means to effect a
capture quickly. He will stretch the larger (haye) nets upon level
spaces; and proceed to plant the road nets upon roads and at
converging points of tracks and footpaths;[14] he must attach the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Moral Emblems by Robert Louis Stevenson: Last, as the point of greatest weight,
The pair contrasted their estate,
And Robin, like a boastful sailor,
Despised the other for a tailor.
'See,' he remarked, 'with envy, see
A man with such a fist as me!
Bearded and ringed, and big, and brown,
I sit and toss the stingo down.
Hear the gold jingle in my bag -
All won beneath the Jolly Flag!'
Ben moralised and shook his head:
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard: by the hand of the king's daughter. Five years was given to
him to complete the work, and an unlimited supply of labour and
material. Three times did his arch fall, till at last, seeing
failure to be inevitable, he determined to commit suicide on
the morrow of the third collapse. That night, however, a beautiful
woman came to him in a dream and touched his forehead, and of
a sudden he saw a vision of the completed work, and saw too through
the masonry and how the difficulties connected with the flying
arch that had hitherto baffled his genius were to be overcome.
Then he awoke and once more commenced the work, but on a different
plan, and behold! he achieved it, and on the last day of the
Allan Quatermain |
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 Apology by Xenophon: (Jowett).
[34] The commentators quote Libanius, "Apol." vol. iii. p. 39, {kai
dia touto ekalei men Eurulokhos o Kharistios, ekalei de Skopas k
Kranonios, oukh ekista lontes, upiskhnoumenoi}. Cf. Diog. Laert.
ii. 31, {Kharmidou oiketas auto didontos, in' ap' auton
prosodeuoito, oukh eileto}. Cf. id. 65, 74.
[35] See "Hell." II. ii. 10.
[36] {oikteirein eautous}. See L. Dind. ad loc. For an incident in
point see "Mem." II. vii.
[37] Plat. "Rep." iii. 404 D, "refinements of Attic confectionery."
[38] {ek tes psukhes}, possibly "by a healthy appetite." Cf. "Symp."
The Apology |
