| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Glasses by Henry James: instant Flora, blank and undistinguishing, as if she too were after
all weary of alternatives, looked straight across at me. I was on
the point of raising my hat to her when I observed that her face
gave no sign. I was exactly in the line of her vision, but she
either didn't see me or didn't recognise me, or else had a reason
to pretend she didn't. Was her reason that I had displeased her
and that she wished to punish me? I had always thought it one of
her merits that she wasn't vindictive. She at any rate simply
looked away; and at this moment one of the shop-girls, who had
apparently gone off in search of it, bustled up to her with a small
mechanical toy. It so happened that I followed closely what then
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: war, we must widen our test to include everything which war itself can
bring to the proof: such as leaping ditches, scrambling over walls,
scaling up and springing off high banks. We must test his paces by
galloping him up and down steep pitches and sharp inclines and along a
slant. For each and all of these will serve as a touchstone to gauge
the endurance of his spirit and the soundness of his body.
I am far from saying, indeed, that because an animal fails to perform
all these parts to perfection, he must straightway be rejected; since
many a horse will fall short at first, not from inability, but from
want of experience. With teaching, practice, and habit, almost any
horse will come to perform all these feats beautifully, provided he be
On Horsemanship |
