| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Call of the Wild by Jack London: secret growth. His newborn cunning gave him poise and control.
He was too busy adjusting himself to the new life to feel at ease,
and not only did he not pick fights, but he avoided them whenever
possible. A certain deliberateness characterized his attitude.
He was not prone to rashness and precipitate action; and in the
bitter hatred between him and Spitz he betrayed no impatience,
shunned all offensive acts.
On the other hand, possibly because he divined in Buck a dangerous
rival, Spitz never lost an opportunity of showing his teeth. He
even went out of his way to bully Buck, striving constantly to
start the fight which could end only in the death of one or 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 The Sportsman by Xenophon: "H. G." i. 413, 427 foll.
[41] Cf. "Hell." II. iv. 21.
Achilles,[42] lastly, being nursed in this same training, bequeathed
to after-days memorials so fair, so ample, that to speak or hear
concerning him no man wearies.
[42] "The highest form that floated before Greek imagination was
Achilles," Hegel, "Lectures on the Philosophy of History" (Eng.
tr. p. 233); and for a beautiful elaboration of that idea, J. A.
Symonds, "Greek Poets," 2nd series, ch. ii.
Such, by dint of that paintstaking care derived from Cheiron, these
all proved themselves; of whom all good men yet still to-day are
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