| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Aesop's Fables by Aesop: out "Wolf, Wolf," still louder than before. But this time the
villagers, who had been fooled twice before, thought the boy was
again deceiving them, and nobody stirred to come to his help. So
the Wolf made a good meal off the boy's flock, and when the boy
complained, the wise man of the village said:
"A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth."
The Young Thief and His Mother
A young Man had been caught in a daring act of theft and had
been condemned to be executed for it. He expressed his desire to
see his Mother, and to speak with her before he was led to
execution, and of course this was granted. When his Mother came
Aesop's Fables |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Statesman by Plato: bitter and satirical, and seems to be sadly conscious of the realities of
human life. Yet the ideal glory of the Platonic philosophy is not
extinguished. He is still looking for a city in which kings are either
philosophers or gods (compare Laws).
The Statesman has lost the grace and beauty of the earlier dialogues. The
mind of the writer seems to be so overpowered in the effort of thought as
to impair his style; at least his gift of expression does not keep up with
the increasing difficulty of his theme. The idea of the king or statesman
and the illustration of method are connected, not like the love and
rhetoric of the Phaedrus, by 'little invisible pegs,' but in a confused and
inartistic manner, which fails to produce any impression of a whole on the
Statesman |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Phaedo by Plato: an absolute beauty and goodness and greatness, and the like; grant me this,
and I hope to be able to show you the nature of the cause, and to prove the
immortality of the soul.
Cebes said: You may proceed at once with the proof, for I grant you this.
Well, he said, then I should like to know whether you agree with me in the
next step; for I cannot help thinking, if there be anything beautiful other
than absolute beauty should there be such, that it can be beautiful only in
as far as it partakes of absolute beauty--and I should say the same of
everything. Do you agree in this notion of the cause?
Yes, he said, I agree.
He proceeded: I know nothing and can understand nothing of any other of
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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 Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley: men, be ready. He will be aboard of us in five minutes!"
It was too true. The Rose, unmanageable from the loss of her head-
sail, lay at the mercy of the Spaniard; and the archers and
musqueteers had hardly time to range themselves to leeward, when
the Madre Dolorosa's chains were grinding against the Rose's, and
grapples tossed on board from stem to stern.
"Don't cut them loose!" roared Amyas. "Let them stay and see the
fun! Now, dogs of Devon, show your teeth, and hurrah for God and
the queen!"
And then began a fight most fierce and fell: the Spaniards,
according to their fashion, attempting to board, the English, amid
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