| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Secret Places of the Heart by H. G. Wells: to be got out of this encounter.
Section 3
Sir Richmond displayed a complete disregard of the sufferings
of Dr. Martineau, shamefully compressed behind him. Of these
he was to hear later. He ran his overcrowded little car,
overcrowded so far as the dicky went, over the crest of the
Down and down into Amesbury and on to Salisbury, stopping to
alight and stretch the legs of the party when they came in
sight of Old Sarum.
"Certainly they can do with a little stretching," said Dr.
Martineau grimly.
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: for Ho Lu, King of Wu. Its principles were tested on women,
and he was subsequently made a general. He led an army
westwards, crushed the Ch`u state and entered Ying the
capital. In the north, he kept Ch`i and Chin in awe. A
hundred years and more after his time, Sun Pin lived. He was
a descendant of Wu.] [13] In his treatment of deliberation
and planning, the importance of rapidity in taking the field,
[14] clearness of conception, and depth of design, Sun Tzu
stands beyond the reach of carping criticism. My
contemporaries, however, have failed to grasp the full
meaning of his instructions, and while putting into practice
The Art of War |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Legend of Montrose by Walter Scott: echoes of the woods and rocks around. At intervals, these sunk
into deep silence, interrupted only by the plashing noise of a
small runnel of water, which partly fell from the rock, partly
found a more silent passage to the bottom along its projecting
surface. Voices of men were also heard in stifled converse
below; it seemed as if the pursuers had not discovered the narrow
path which led to the top of the rock, or that, having discovered
it, the peril of the ascent, joined to the imperfect light, and
the uncertainty whether it might not be defended, made them
hesitate to attempt it.
At length a shadowy figure was seen, which raised itself up from
|
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 The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton: while the surface-excitement of her life gave her the illusion
of enjoyment.
Strefford, as she had expected, had postponed his return to
England, and they had now been for nearly three weeks together
in their new, and virtually avowed, relation. She had fancied
that, after all, the easiest part of it would be just the being
with Strefford--the falling back on their old tried friendship
to efface the sense of strangeness. But, though she had so soon
grown used to his caresses, he himself remained curiously
unfamiliar: she was hardly sure, at times, that it was the old
Strefford she was talking to. It was not that his point of view
|
