| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Hellenica by Xenophon: lost.
[12] For the common reading, {oikeitai}, which is ungrammatical,
various conjectures have been made, e.g.
{oikieitai} = "would be none the worse off for citizens,"
{oikesetai} = "would be just as well administered without him,"
but as the readings and their renderings are alike doubtful, I
have preferred to leave the matter vague. Cf. Cicero, "De Offic."
i. 24; Plutarch, "Lac. Apophth." p. 832.
After consultation the Athenian generals agreed that two captains of
triremes, Theramenes and Thrasybulus, accompanied by some of the
taxiarchs, should take forty-seven ships and sail to the assistance of
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Professor by Charlotte Bronte: enervated or sated one faculty of my nature. Liberty I clasped in
my arms for the first time, and the influence of her smile and
embrace revived my life like the sun and the west wind. Yes, at
that epoch I felt like a morning traveller who doubts not that
from the hill he is ascending he shall behold a glorious sunrise;
what if the track be strait, steep, and stony? he sees it not;
his eyes are fixed on that summit, flushed already, flushed and
gilded, and having gained it he is certain of the scene beyond.
He knows that the sun will face him, that his chariot is even now
coming over the eastern horizon, and that the herald breeze he
feels on his cheek is opening for the god's career a clear, vast
The Professor |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Historical Lecturers and Essays by Charles Kingsley: miraculous Virgin of Atocha at the bed's foot of the prince. He had
heard his recovery attributed, not to the operation, but to the
intercession of Fray, now Saint Diego; {12} and he must have had his
thoughts thereon, and may, in an unguarded moment, have spoken them.
For he was, be it always remembered, a Netherlander. The crisis of
his country was just at hand. Rebellion was inevitable, and, with
rebellion, horrors unutterable; and, meanwhile, Don Carlos had set
his mad brain on having the command of the Netherlands. In his
rage, at not having it, as all the world knows, he nearly killed
Alva with his own hands, some two years after. If it be true that
Don Carlos felt a debt of gratitude to Vesalius, he may (after his
|
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 Young Forester by Zane Grey: me!"
"Wal, he's gone, an' he took the kid's gun with him," said Bill, coolly.
"Now we'll be dodgin' bullets."
Dick Leslie had escaped! I could hardly keep down a cry of triumph. I did
ask if it was true, but none of them paid any attention to me. Buell then
ordered Herky-Jerky to trail Dick and see where he had gone. Herky refused
point-blank. "Nope. Not fer me," he said. "Leslie has a rifle. So has Bent,
an' we haven't one among us. An', Buell, if Leslie falls in with Bent, it's
goin' to git hot fer us round here."
This silenced Buell, but did not stop his restless pacings. His face was
like a thunder-cloud, and he was plainly worried and harassed. Once Bud
The Young Forester |
