| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from 1984 by George Orwell: the decisive opportunity which they all believe will come sooner or later.
And meanwhile the art of war has remained almost stationary for thirty or
forty years. Helicopters are more used than they were formerly, bombing
planes have been largely superseded by self-propelled projectiles, and the
fragile movable battleship has given way to the almost unsinkable Floating
Fortress; but otherwise there has been little development. The tank, the
submarine, the torpedo, the machine gun, even the rifle and the hand
grenade are still in use. And in spite of the endless slaughters reported
in the Press and on the telescreens, the desperate battles of earlier wars,
in which hundreds of thousands or even millions of men were often killed
in a few weeks, have never been repeated.
1984 |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: [5] See Sturz, s.v.; Pollux, i. 219. Al. "the longe," but the passage
below (vii. 14) is suggestive rather of the volte.
[6] Al. "will only attempt to bolt where the passage out towards home
combines, as it were, with a bad mouth." {e . . . ekphora} = "the
exit from the manege or riding school."
Another point which it is necessary to learn is, whether when let go
at full speed the horse can be pulled up[7] sharp and is willing to
wheel round in obedience to the rein.
[7] {analambanetai}, "come to the poise" (Morgan). For
{apostrephesthai} see ix.6; tech. "caracole."
It is also well to ascertain by experience if the horse you propose to
On Horsemanship |
