| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: master!"
These words pronounced, the lieutenant resumed his place in
his fauteuil, stretched his legs and closed his eyes, like a
man who either sleeps or meditates.
During this short monologue and the mise en scene that had
accompanied it, whilst the king, through the long corridors
of the old castle, proceeded to the apartment of M. de
Mazarin, a scene of another sort was being enacted in those
apartments.
Mazarin was in bed, suffering a little from the gout. But as
he was a man of order, who utilized even pain, he forced his
Ten Years Later |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott: him in the deep green moss, with drooping heads, as if they listened
to the soft wind sing-ing among the pines. Bright-eyed birds peeped
at him from their nests, and many-colored insects danced above the
cool, still lake.
"This is a pleasant place," said Thistle; "it shall be my home for a
while. Come hither, blue dragon-fly, I would gladly make a friend of
you, for I am all alone."
The dragon-fly folded his shining wings beside the Elf, listened to
the tale he told, promised to befriend the lonely one, and strove
to make the forest a happy home to him.
So here dwelt Thistle, and many kind friends gathered round him,
Flower Fables |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Pocket Diary Found in the Snow by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: cried the latter, and then he turned to the man in the room. "Here,
stop that. I can fire twice before you get the window open."
The man turned and walked slowly to the centre of the room, sinking
down into an arm-chair that stood beside the desk. Neither Amster
nor Muller turned their eyes from him for a moment, ready for any
attempt on his part to escape. But the detective had already seen
something that told him that Langen was not thinking of flight.
When he turned to the desk, Muller had seen his eyes glisten while
a scornful smile parted his thin, lips. A second later he had let
his handkerchief fall, apparently carelessly, upon the desk. But
in this short space of time the detective's sharp eyes had seen a
|
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 Polity of Athenians and Lacedaemonians by Xenophon: explain the reason of this peculiar custom. Supposing it were legal
for a slave to be beaten by a free citizen, or for a resident alien or
freedman to be beaten by a citizen, it would frequently happen that an
Athenian might be mistaken for a slave or an alien and receive a
beating; since the Athenian People is no better clothed than the slave
or alien, nor in personal appearance is there any superiority. Or if
the fact itself that slaves in Athens are allowed to indulge in
luxury, and indeed in some cases to live magnificently, be found
astonishing, this too, it can be shown, is done of set purpose. Where
you have a naval power[22] dependent upon wealth[23] we must perforce
be slaves to our slaves, in order that we may get in our slave-
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