| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Sportsman by Xenophon: [8] Reading {to thermo}. Aristot. "Gen. An." iv. 10. Zeune cf. Plut.
"Symp." iii. 10, 657. Macrob. "Sat." vii. 16; Athen. 276 E. Al.
{to thermon}. See Lenz ad loc., "the moon, especially a full moon,
dulls the heat (or odour) of the tracks."
[9] Cf. Poll. v. 67; ib. 66.
[10] "Playing with one another, in the rivalry of sport."
[11] Lit. "when foxes have gone through before."
Spring with its tempered mildness is the season to render the scent
clear, except where possibly the soil, bursting with flowers, may
mislead the pack, by mingling the perfume of flowers with the true
scent.[12] In summer scent is thin and indistinct; the earth being
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbot: So my Grandson had disappeared in disgrace; and there I sat
by my Wife's side, endeavouring to form a retrospect of the year 1999
and of the possibilities of the year 2000, but not quite able
to shake off the thoughts suggested by the prattle of my bright
little Hexagon. Only a few sands now remained in the half-hour glass.
Rousing myself from my reverie I turned the glass Northward
for the last time in the old Millennium; and in the act,
I exclaimed aloud, "The boy is a fool."
Straightway I became conscious of a Presence in the room,
and a chilling breath thrilled through my very being.
"He is no such thing," cried my Wife, "and you are breaking
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions |
