| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Agesilaus by Xenophon: itself a gigantic arsenal. It would have kindled courage in the breast
of a coward to see the long lines of soldiers, with Agesilaus at their
head, all garlanded as they marched in proud procession from the
gymnasiums and dedicated their wreaths to our Lady Artemis. Since,
where these three elements exist--reverence towards heaven, practice
in military affairs, and obedience to command--all else must needs be
full of happy promise.
But seeing that contempt for the foe is calculated to infuse a certain
strength in face of battle, he ordered his criers to strip naked the
barbarians captured by his foraging parties, and so to sell them. The
soldiers who saw the white skins of these folk, unused to strip for
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The School For Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan: SURFACE. Certainly madam--that conversation where the Spirit of
Raillery is suppressed will ever appear tedious and insipid--
MARIA. Well I'll not debate how far Scandal may be allowable--
but in a man I am sure it is always contemtable.--We have Pride,
envy, Rivalship, and a Thousand motives to depreciate each other--
but the male-slanderer must have the cowardice of a woman before
He can traduce one.
LADY SNEERWELL. I wish my Cousin Verjuice hadn't left us--she
should embrace you.
SURFACE. Ah! she's an old maid and is privileged of course.
Enter SERVANT
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley: "My name is Hendrick Hudson, and a right good skipper was I; and my
name will last to the world's end, in spite of all the wrong I did.
For I discovered Hudson River, and I named Hudson's Bay; and many
have come in my wake that dared not have shown me the way. But I
was a hard man in my time, that's truth, and stole the poor Indians
off the coast of Maine, and sold them for slaves down in Virginia;
and at last I was so cruel to my sailors, here in these very seas,
that they set me adrift in an open boat, and I never was heard of
more. So now I'm the king of all mollys, till I've worked out my
time."
And now they came to the edge of the pack, and beyond it they could
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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 Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne: unless it were his sword blade. Finally, however, a
sufficiently large tract oś ground was turned up, and sown with
this new kind of seed; although half of the dragon's teeth
still remained to be planted some other day.
Cadmus, quite out of breath, stood leaning upon his sword, and
wondering what was to happen next. He had waited but a few
moments, when he began to see a sight, which was as great a
marvel as the most marvelous thing I ever told you about.
The sun was shining slantwise over the field, and showed all
the moist, dark soil just like any other newly-planted piece of
ground. All at once, Cadmus fancied he saw something glisten
Tanglewood Tales |
