| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Four Arthurian Romances by Chretien DeTroyes: Q'ensi voet laisser sou escu
Et querre le bataille ou lit."
(27) This brusque command, implying so sudden a change in Erec's
attitude toward his wife, initiates a long series of tests
of Enide's devotion, which fill the rest of the romance.
Why did Erec treat his wife with such severity? In the
Mabinogi of "Geraint the Son of Erbin", it is plain that
jealousy was the hero's motive. The reader of "Erec" may
judge whether, as we believe, the hero's sudden resolve is
not rather that of a man piqued at being justly reproved by
his wife for a delinquency he had not himself remarked;
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Gentle Grafter by O. Henry: --enough to start the game with, I guess.'
"He goes through his pockets and rains $20 gold certificates on the
table till it looked like a $10,000 'Autumn Day in a Lemon Grove'
picture by Turner in the salons. Andy almost smiled.
"The first round that was dealt, this boulevardier slaps down his
hand, claims low and jack and big casino and rakes in the pot.
"Andy always took a pride in his poker playing. He got up from the
table and looked sadly out of the window at the street cars.
"'Well, gentlemen,' says the cigar man, 'I don't blame you for not
wanting to play. I've forgotten the fine points of the game, I guess,
it's been so long since I indulged. Now, how long are you gentlemen
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Timaeus by Plato: restoring this same region to an agreeable and natural condition.
In considering the third kind of sense, hearing, we must speak of the
causes in which it originates. We may in general assume sound to be a blow
which passes through the ears, and is transmitted by means of the air, the
brain, and the blood, to the soul, and that hearing is the vibration of
this blow, which begins in the head and ends in the region of the liver.
The sound which moves swiftly is acute, and the sound which moves slowly is
grave, and that which is regular is equable and smooth, and the reverse is
harsh. A great body of sound is loud, and a small body of sound the
reverse. Respecting the harmonies of sound I must hereafter speak.
There is a fourth class of sensible things, having many intricate
|
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 Oakdale Affair by Edgar Rice Burroughs: him without a painful operation. Tomorrow'll do," and
he shifted his position and fell asleep.
Dopey Charlie and The General did not, however,
follow the example of their chief. They remained very
wide awake, a little apart from the others, where their
low whispers could not be overheard.
"You better do it," urged The General, in a soft, in-
sinuating voice. "You're pretty slick with the toad stab-
ber, an' any way one more or less won't count."
"We can go to Sout' America on dat stuff an' live
like gents," muttered Dopey Charlie. "I'm goin' to cut
The Oakdale Affair |
