| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Heritage of the Desert by Zane Grey: sand; the stars changed positions, travelled round in the blue dome, and
the few that he knew finally sank below the horizon. Bolly never lagged;
she was like the homeward - bound horse, indifferent to direction because
sure of it, eager to finish the journey because now it was short. Hare
was glad though not surprised when she snorted and cracked her iron-shod
hoof on a stone at the edge of the sand. He smiled with tightening lips
as he rode into the shadow of a rock which he recognized. Bolly had
crossed the treacherous belt of dunes and washes and had struck the trail
on the other side.
The long level of wind-carved rocks under the cliffs, the ridges of the
desert, the miles of slow ascent up to the rough divide, the gradual
The Heritage of the Desert |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Symposium by Xenophon: shall need will be a seven-sofa'd chamber,[36] where I can warm to
work,[37] just like the lad here who has found this room quite ample
for the purpose. And in winter I shall do gymnastics[38] under cover,
or when the weather is broiling under shade. . . . But what is it you
keep on laughing at--the wish on my part to reduce to moderate size a
paunch a trifle too rotund? Is that the source of merriment?[39]
Perhaps you are not aware, my friends, that Charmides--yes! he there--
caught me only the other morning in the act of dancing?
[31] "Bearing a weighty and serious brow."
[32] "Like your runner of the mile race." Cf. Plat. "Prot." 335 E.
[33] Or, "resolute exercise of the whole body." See Aristot. "Pol."
The Symposium |
