| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: me, thou hast stomach to brook the Sieur de la Montaigne, that
tough old boar of Dauphiny. Hast thou in good sooth the courage
to face him? Knowest thou what a great thing it is that thou hast
set upon thyself--to do battle, even in sport, with him?"
"Yea, your Majesty," answered Myles, "well I wot it is a task
haply beyond me. But gladly would I take upon me even a greater
venture, and one more dangerous, to do your Majesty's pleasure!"
The King looked pleased. "Now that was right well said, young
man," said he, "and I like it better that it came from such young
and honest lips. Dost thou speak French?"
"Yea, your Majesty," answered Myles. "In some small measure do I
Men of Iron |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Eryxias by Platonic Imitator: and others is able also to sell the product of his art, if he so desire.
Eryxias looked askance, as if he had received some unfair treatment, and
said, I believe, Socrates, that if you were forced to speak the truth, you
would declare that you were richer than Callias the son of Hipponicus. And
yet, although you claimed to be wiser about things of real importance, you
would not any the more be richer than he.
I dare say, Eryxias, I said, that you may regard these arguments of ours as
a kind of game; you think that they have no relation to facts, but are like
the pieces in the game of draughts which the player can move in such a way
that his opponents are unable to make any countermove. (Compare Republic.)
And perhaps, too, as regards riches you are of opinion that while facts
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The White Moll by Frank L. Packard: understood now! On the night the Adventurer had confided that
telephone number to her as Gypsy Nan, he had had every reason to
believe that Gypsy Nan would, as she had already apparently done,
befriend the White Moll even to the extent of accepting no little
personal risk in so doing. But since then things had taken a very
different turn. The White Moll was now held by the gang, of which
Gypsy Nan was supposed to be a member, to be the one who had of late
profited by the gang's plans to the gang's discomfiture; and the
Adventurer was ranked but little lower in the scale of hatred, since
they counted him to be the White Moll's accomplice. Knowing this,
therefore, the first thing the Adventurer would naturally do would
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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 Tom Sawyer, Detective by Mark Twain: "I done everything I could the whole month to think up
some way to save Uncle Silas, but I couldn't strike
a thing. So when we come into court to-day I come empty,
and couldn't see no chance anywheres. But by and by I had
a glimpse of something that set me thinking--just a little
wee glimpse--only that, and not enough to make sure;
but it set me thinking hard--and WATCHING, when I was
only letting on to think; and by and by, sure enough,
when Uncle Silas was piling out that stuff about HIM
killing Jubiter Dunlap, I catched that glimpse again,
and this time I jumped up and shut down the proceedings,
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