| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from 1492 by Mary Johntson: Colombo, ``to find India of All the Wealth! Spain
no less than Portugal wants the gold and diamonds, the
drugs and spices, the fine, thin, painted cloths, the carved
ivory and silver and amber. `Land, land, so much land!'
says King Ferdinand. `But _wealth_? It is all out-go! Even
your Crusade were a beggarly Crusade!' ''
``Ha! That hurt him!'' quoth Fray Juan Perez.
``Says the King. `Pedro Alonso Nino has made for us
the most profitable voyage of any who have sailed from
Cadiz.' `From Cadiz, but not from Palos,' answers the
Admiral.''
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from On Revenues by Xenophon: duties, including the cavalry service,[8] I shall be surprised if we
do not increase the goodwill of the aliens themselves, whilst at the
same time we add distinctly to the strength and grandeur of our city.
[1] Lit. "metics" or "metoecs."
[2] {misthos}, e.g. of the assembly, the senate, and the dicasts.
[3] The {metoikion}. See Plat. "Laws," 850 B; according to Isaeus, ap.
Harpocr. s.v., it was 12 drachmae per annum for a male and 6
drachmae for a female.
[4] Or, "the class in question." According to Schneider (who cites the
{atimetos metanastes} of Homer, "Il." ix. 648), the reference is
not to disabilities in the technical sense, but to humiliating
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton: through those enchanted pages the vision of a
woman who had the face of Ellen Olenska; but when
he woke the next morning, and looked out at the
brownstone houses across the street, and thought of his
desk in Mr. Letterblair's office, and the family pew in
Grace Church, his hour in the park of Skuytercliff
became as far outside the pale of probability as the
visions of the night.
"Mercy, how pale you look, Newland!" Janey
commented over the coffee-cups at breakfast; and his mother
added: "Newland, dear, I've noticed lately that you've
|
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 An Inland Voyage by Robert Louis Stevenson: I was glad he did not know how badly we make them in England now-a-
days. 'They are for people who go away to sea,' he added, 'and to
defend one's life against great fish.'
I felt I was becoming a more and more romantic figure to the little
group at every word. And so I suppose I was. Even my pipe,
although it was an ordinary French clay pretty well 'trousered,' as
they call it, would have a rarity in their eyes, as a thing coming
from so far away. And if my feathers were not very fine in
themselves, they were all from over seas. One thing in my outfit,
however, tickled them out of all politeness; and that was the
bemired condition of my canvas shoes. I suppose they were sure the
|