| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Alcibiades II by Platonic Imitator: Alcibiades is stupid and heavy-in-hand. There are traces of Stoic
influence in the general tone and phraseology of the Dialogue (compare opos
melesei tis...kaka: oti pas aphron mainetai): and the writer seems to
have been acquainted with the 'Laws' of Plato (compare Laws). An incident
from the Symposium is rather clumsily introduced, and two somewhat
hackneyed quotations (Symp., Gorg.) recur. The reference to the death of
Archelaus as having occurred 'quite lately' is only a fiction, probably
suggested by the Gorgias, where the story of Archelaus is told, and a
similar phrase occurs;--ta gar echthes kai proen gegonota tauta, k.t.l.
There are several passages which are either corrupt or extremely ill-
expressed. But there is a modern interest in the subject of the dialogue;
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: just ahead. And so I swam slowly on, waiting for my head
to touch the top of the corridor, which would mean that I
had reached the limit of my flight and the point where I
must sink for ever to an unmarked grave.
But to my surprise I ran against a blank wall before I
reached a point where the waters came to the roof of the
corridor. Could I be mistaken? I felt around. No, I had
come to the main corridor, and still there was a breathing
space between the surface of the water and the rocky
ceiling above. And then I turned up the main corridor in
the direction that Carthoris and the head of the column had
The Gods of Mars |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Edingburgh Picturesque Notes by Robert Louis Stevenson: Perhaps it is now one in the afternoon; and at the same
instant of time, a ball rises to the summit of Nelson's
flagstaff close at hand, and, far away, a puff of smoke
followed by a report bursts from the half-moon battery at
the Castle. This is the time-gun by which people set
their watches, as far as the sea coast or in hill farms
upon the Pentlands. - To complete the view, the eye
enfilades Princes Street, black with traffic, and has a
broad look over the valley between the Old Town and the
New: here, full of railway trains and stepped over by the
high North Bridge upon its many columns, and there, green
|
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 Mad King by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Leopold sat tapping his foot upon the carpet. It was all
very well if he, the king, chose to praise the American, but
there was no need for old von der Tann to slop over so.
The king did not like it. As a matter of fact, he found him-
self becoming very jealous of the man who had placed him
upon his throne.
"There is only one thing that I can harbor against you,"
continued Prince Ludwig, "and that is that in a single in-
stance you deceived me, for an hour before the coronation
you told me that you were a Rubinroth."
"I told you, prince," corrected Barney, "that the royal
The Mad King |
