| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville: them and housel them evermore once or twice in the week. And there
be many of them that housel them every day; and so do we not on
this half, albeit that Saint Paul commandeth it, saying, OMNIBUS
DIEBUS DOMINICIS AD COMMUNICANDUM HORTOR. They keep that
commandment, but we ne keep it not.
Also after, on this half, is Turkey, that marcheth to the great
Armenia. And there be many provinces, as Cappadocia, Saure,
Brique, Quesiton, Pytan, and Gemethe. And in everych of these be
many good cities. This Turkey stretcheth unto the city of Sachala
that sitteth upon the sea of Greece, and so it marcheth to Syria.
Syria is a great country and a good, as I have told you before.
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: himself take part in the conversations or express any opinion. After
hearing what was being said by one or other of these groups he
generally turned away with an air of disappointment, as though they
were not speaking of anything he wished to hear. Some discussed the
position that had been chosen, criticizing not the position itself
so much as the mental capacity of those who had chosen it. Others
argued that a mistake had been made earlier and that a battle should
have been fought two days before. Others again spoke of the battle
of Salamanca, which was described by Crosart, a newly arrived
Frenchman in a Spanish uniform. (This Frenchman and one of the
German princes serving with the Russian army were discussing the siege
 War and Peace |