The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from My Antonia by Willa Cather: Grandmother entreated them to try Antonia. She cornered
Ambrosch the next time he came to town, and pointed
out to him that any connection with Christian Harling
would strengthen his credit and be of advantage to him.
One Sunday Mrs. Harling took the long ride out to the Shimerdas'
with Frances. She said she wanted to see `what the girl
came from' and to have a clear understanding with her mother.
I was in our yard when they came driving home, just before sunset.
They laughed and waved to me as they passed, and I could see
they were in great good humour. After supper, when grandfather
set off to church, grandmother and I took my short cut
 My Antonia |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Memorabilia by Xenophon: your behaviour and that of a man who, being the superior of trained
athletes, quails before a set of amateurs? Is it not the case that you
who can argue so readily with the foremost statesmen in the city, some
of whom affect to look down upon you--you, with your vast superiority
over practised popular debaters--are no sooner confronted with a set
of folk who never in their lives gave politics a thought, and into
whose heads certainly it never entered to look down upon you--than you
are afraid to open your lips in mortal terror of being laughed at?
[6] Cf. Cic. "Tusc." v. 36, 104; Plat. "Gorg." 452 E, 454 B.
[7] Cf. Plat. "Protag." 319 C. See W. L. Newman, op. cit. i. 103.
Well, but you would admit (he answered) that sound argument does
 The Memorabilia |