| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: and into the tough armour the ape-man attempted to plunge
his stone knife as he was borne to the creature's horrid den.
His efforts but served to accelerate the speed of the crocodile,
and just as the ape-man realized that he had reached the limit
of his endurance he felt his body dragged to a muddy bed and
his nostrils rise above the water's surface. All about him
was the blackness of the pit--the silence of the grave.
For a moment Tarzan of the Apes lay gasping for breath
upon the slimy, evil-smelling bed to which the animal had
borne him. Close at his side he could feel the cold, hard
plates of the creatures coat rising and falling as though with
The Beasts of Tarzan |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Phaedrus by Plato: their love to do the same, and educate him into the manner and nature of
the god as far as they each can; for no feelings of envy or jealousy are
entertained by them towards their beloved, but they do their utmost to
create in him the greatest likeness of themselves and of the god whom they
honour. Thus fair and blissful to the beloved is the desire of the
inspired lover, and the initiation of which I speak into the mysteries of
true love, if he be captured by the lover and their purpose is effected.
Now the beloved is taken captive in the following manner:--
As I said at the beginning of this tale, I divided each soul into three--
two horses and a charioteer; and one of the horses was good and the other
bad: the division may remain, but I have not yet explained in what the
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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 Criminal Sociology by Enrico Ferri: his several categories. In proof of this it is enough to observe
that the ninth article of the Belgian law admits the conditional
sentence, so far as punishment is concerned, when this punishment
does not exceed six months, _*even if the period is made up by the
cumulation of two or more!_ In other words, the conditional
sentence is allowed in the case of a criminal who has
com mitted several offences--which substantially (except in
the few cases of connected offences due to the same action, or
arising out of the same occasion) is a mere case of relapse, and
therefore proves in the majority of cases that the law is not
dealing with true occasional criminals; for these, as a rule, like
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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 A Lover's Complaint by William Shakespeare: A thousand favours from a maund she drew
Of amber, crystal, and of beaded jet,
Which one by one she in a river threw,
Upon whose weeping margent she was set;
Like usury applying wet to wet,
Or monarchs' hands, that lets not bounty fall
Where want cries 'some,' but where excess begs all.
Of folded schedules had she many a one,
Which she perus'd, sigh'd, tore, and gave the flood;
Crack'd many a ring of posied gold and bone,
Bidding them find their sepulchres in mud;
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