| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sophist by Plato: animals; the one of water, and the other of land animals. But at this
point they diverge, the one going to the sea and the rivers, and the other
to the rivers of wealth and rich meadow-lands, in which generous youth
abide. On land you may hunt tame animals, or you may hunt wild animals.
And man is a tame animal, and he may be hunted either by force or
persuasion;--either by the pirate, man-stealer, soldier, or by the lawyer,
orator, talker. The latter use persuasion, and persuasion is either
private or public. Of the private practitioners of the art, some bring
gifts to those whom they hunt: these are lovers. And others take hire;
and some of these flatter, and in return are fed; others profess to teach
virtue and receive a round sum. And who are these last? Tell me who?
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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 the Klondyke by Jack London: raging hundred of them, top and bottom, ripping and tearing each
other, kids and squaws tumbling which way, and the camp gone wild.
Tilly'd slipped away, so I followed. But when I looked over my
shoulder at the skirt of the crowd, the devil laid me by the
heart, and I dropped the blanket and went back.
"By then the dogs'd been knocked apart and the crowd was
untangling itself. Nobody was in proper place, so they didn't
note that Tilly'd gone. 'Hello,' I says, gripping Chief George by
the hand. 'May your potlach-smoke rise often, and the Sticks
bring many furs with the spring.'
"Lord love me, Dick, but he was joyed to see me,--him with the
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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 On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: there was a blunder; for they thought that my chief desire
was to stand the other side of that stone wall. I could not
but smile to see how industriously they locked the door on
my meditations, which followed them out again without let or
hindrance, and they were really all that was dangerous.
As they could not reach me, they had resolved to punish
my body; just as boys, if they cannot come at some person
against whom they have a spite, will abuse his dog. I saw
that the State was half-witted, that it was timid as a lone
woman with her silver spoons, and that it did not know its
friends from its foes, and I lost all my remaining respect
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
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 Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle: and four stout yeomen waited her pleasure in the court below.
Then Queen Eleanor arose joyously and bade them be straightway
shown into her presence.
Thus Robin Hood and Little John and Will Scarlet and Allan a Dale came
before the Queen into her own royal bower. Then Robin kneeled before
the Queen with his hands folded upon his breast, saying in simple phrase,
"Here am I, Robin Hood. Thou didst bid me come, and lo, I do thy bidding.
I give myself to thee as thy true servant, and will do thy commanding,
even if it be to the shedding of the last drop of my life's blood."
But good Queen Eleanor smiled pleasantly upon him, bidding him to arise.
Then she made them all be seated to rest themselves after their long journey.
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood |
