| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lesser Hippias by Plato: desire to understand, I question him, and I examine and analyse and put
together what he says, in order that I may understand; but if the speaker
appears to me to be a poor hand, I do not interrogate him, or trouble
myself about him, and you may know by this who they are whom I deem to be
wise men, for you will see that when I am talking with a wise man, I am
very attentive to what he says; and I ask questions of him, in order that I
may learn, and be improved by him. And I could not help remarking while
you were speaking, that when you recited the verses in which Achilles, as
you argued, attacks Odysseus as a deceiver, that you must be strangely
mistaken, because Odysseus, the man of wiles, is never found to tell a lie;
but Achilles is found to be wily on your own showing. At any rate he
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: Especially is this true of a book, which I must beg those who have
read it already, to recollect. To read it I recommend no human
being. We may consider it, as it was considered in its time, the
typical novel of the Ancien Regime. A picture of Spanish society,
written by a Frenchman, it was held to be--and doubtless with
reason--a picture of the whole European world. Its French editor
(of 1836) calls it a grande epopee; "one of the most prodigious
efforts of intelligence, exhausting all forms of humanity"--in fact,
a second Shakespeare, according to the lights of the year 1715. I
mean, of course, "Gil Blas." So picturesque is the book, that it
has furnished inexhaustible motifs to the draughtsman. So excellent
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Somebody's Little Girl by Martha Young: ``Little girl,'' said the lady, ``why do you say, Bessie Bell--?''
When the lady said that it seemed to Bessie Bell that she heard
something sweet--something away off beyond what the band was
playing, so she just clapped her hands and laughed out loud, and
said over and over as if it were a little song:
``Bessie Bell! Bessie, Bessie, Bessie Bell!''
But the lady at her side looked down at the child as if she were
afraid. Bessie Bell knew how sorrowful it was to be afraid, so she
stopped patting her hands and laughing,--for she didn't know why she
had begun to do it--and she laid her hand again on the lady's hand,
just because she knew how sorrowful it was to be afraid.
|
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 Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: "How is thee, Ruth?" he said, warmly, as he spread his
broad open hand for her little fat palm; "and how is John?"
"O! John is well, and all the rest of our folks," said
Ruth, cheerily.
"Any news, father?" said Rachel, as she was putting her
biscuits into the oven.
"Peter Stebbins told me that they should be along tonight,
with _friends_," said Simeon, significantly, as he was washing his
hands at a neat sink, in a little back porch.
"Indeed!" said Rachel, looking thoughtfully, and glancing
at Eliza.
Uncle Tom's Cabin |
