| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Parmenides by Plato: is supposed not to be, and we are speaking of something of a different
nature, we can predicate nothing of it. But supposing that the one that is
not and nothing else is not, then it must participate in the predicate
'that,' and in many others.
Certainly.
And it will have unlikeness in relation to the others, for the others being
different from the one will be of a different kind.
Certainly.
And are not things of a different kind also other in kind?
Of course.
And are not things other in kind unlike?
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Tales of Unrest by Joseph Conrad: walked that way," he explained to Kayerts over the morning coffee. "It
made me squint, leaning over so much. So I just planted it upright.
And solid, I promise you! I suspended myself with both hands to the
cross-piece. Not a move. Oh, I did that properly."
At times Gobila came to see them. Gobila was the chief of the
neighbouring villages. He was a gray-headed savage, thin and black,
with a white cloth round his loins and a mangy panther skin hanging
over his back. He came up with long strides of his skeleton legs,
swinging a staff as tall as himself, and, entering the common room of
the station, would squat on his heels to the left of the door. There
he sat, watching Kayerts, and now and then making a speech which the
Tales of Unrest |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tour Through Eastern Counties of England by Daniel Defoe: prisoners, accepting the conditions offered, but the Parliament's
general returned that he would not treat with Sir Charles, for that
he (Sir Charles) being his prisoner upon his parole of honour, and
having appeared in arms contrary to the rules of war, had forfeited
his honour and faith, and was not capable of command or trust in
martial affairs. To this Sir Charles sent back an answer, and his
excuse for his breach of his parole, but it was not accepted, nor
would the Lord Fairfax enter upon any treaty with him.
Upon this second message Sir William Masham and the Parliament
Committee and other gentlemen, who were prisoners in the town, sent
a message in writing under their hands to the Lord Fairfax,
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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 Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: already emancipated herself from her assumed timidity, which
she only needed for the presentation and for her reverences.
Mademoiselle de Montalais, from the corner of the room to
which she had retired, was looking with no slight confidence
at the different persons present; and, having discovered
Raoul, she amused herself with the profound astonishment
which her own and her friend's presence there caused the
unhappy lover. Her waggish and malicious look, which Raoul
tried to avoid meeting, and which yet he sought inquiringly
from time to time, placed him on the rack. As for Louise,
whether from natural timidity, or some other reason for
Ten Years Later |
