The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from An Open Letter on Translating by Dr. Martin Luther: more clear in German to say "Him has God the Father signified
(gezeiehent)" or even "God the Father means him." But rather than
doing violence to the original, I have done violence to the German
tongue. Ah, translating is not every one's skill as some mad
saints think. A right, devout, honest, sincere, God-fearing
Christian, trained, educated, and experienced heart is required.
So I hold that no false Christian or divisive spirit can be a good
translator. That is obvious given the translation of the Prophets
at Worms which although carefully done and approximating my own
German quite closely, does not show much reverence for Christ due
to the Jews who shared in the translation. Aside from that it
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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 Twelve Stories and a Dream by H. G. Wells: He stood up before the waning fire and smiled at us all. But I think
there was just a little hesitation in his smile. "If I begin--"
he said.
"I wouldn't begin," said Wish.
"It's all right!" said Evans. "Matter is indestructible. You don't
think any jiggery-pokery of this sort is going to snatch Clayton
into the world of shades. Not it! You may try, Clayton, so far as
I'm concerned, until your arms drop off at the wrists."
"I don't believe that," said Wish, and stood up and put his arm
on Clayton's shoulder. "You've made me half believe in that story
somehow, and I don't want to see the thing done!"
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