| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On Revenues by Xenophon: Athens to be supported solely from the soil of Attica itself, which
was obviously the most equitable solution. For if so, herein lay, as I
believed, the antidote at once to their own poverty and to the feeling
of suspicion with which they are regarded by the rest of Hellas.
[2] Lit. "the cities," i.e. of the alliance, {tas summakhidas}.
I had no sooner begun my investigation than one fact presented itself
clearly to my mind, which is that the country itself is made by nature
to provide the amplest resources. And with a view to establishing the
truth of this initial proposition I will describe the physical
features of Attica.
In the first place, the extraordinary mildness of the climate is
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Fantastic Fables by Ambrose Bierce: didn't know you. How did YOU get this land, anyhow?"
The Indian's claim was compromised for a plug hat and a tin horn.
The Hare and the Tortoise
OF two Writers one was brilliant but indolent; the other though
dull, industrious. They set out for the goal of fame with equal
opportunities. Before they died the brilliant one was detected in
seventy languages as the author of but two or three books of
fiction and poetry, while the other was honoured in the Bureau of
Statistics of his native land as the compiler of sixteen volumes of
tabulated information relating to the domestic hog.
The Milkmaid and Her Bucket
 Fantastic Fables |