| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Economist by Xenophon: strive to win the acceptance of the divine powers;[24] how eagerly
they assail the ears of heaven, and by dint of sacrifices and omens
seek to discover what they should and what they should not do. So
likewise as regards the processes of husbandry, think you the
propitiation of heaven is less needed here? Be well assured (he added)
the wise and prudent will pay service to the gods on behalf of moist
fruits and dry,[25] on behalf of cattle and horses, sheep and goats;
nay, on behalf of all their possessions, great and small, without
exception.
[24] See "Hell." III. i. 16 foll., of Dercylidas.
[25] "Every kind of produce, succulent (like the grape and olive) or
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Time Machine by H. G. Wells: puzzled me very much at first. The alternations of night and day
grew slower and slower, and so did the passage of the sun across
the sky, until they seemed to stretch through centuries. At last
a steady twilight brooded over the earth, a twilight only broken
now and then when a comet glared across the darkling sky. The
band of light that had indicated the sun had long since
disappeared; for the sun had ceased to set--it simply rose and
fell in the west, and grew ever broader and more red. All trace
of the moon had vanished. The circling of the stars, growing
slower and slower, had given place to creeping points of light.
At last, some time before I stopped, the sun, red and very large,
The Time Machine |
