| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Euthydemus by Plato: been earlier than 404, but that as a fact this Dialogue could not have been
composed before 390 at the soonest. Ctesippus, who is the lover of
Cleinias, has been already introduced to us in the Lysis, and seems there
too to deserve the character which is here given him, of a somewhat
uproarious young man. But the chief study of all is the picture of the two
brothers, who are unapproachable in their effrontery, equally careless of
what they say to others and of what is said to them, and never at a loss.
They are 'Arcades ambo et cantare pares et respondere parati.' Some
superior degree of wit or subtlety is attributed to Euthydemus, who sees
the trap in which Socrates catches Dionysodorus.
The epilogue or conclusion of the Dialogue has been criticised as
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Father Goriot by Honore de Balzac: "Hey! Milord Gaoriotte, they air talking about yoo-o-ou!"
Father Goriot, seated at the lower end of the table, close to the
door through which the servant entered, raised his face; he had
smelt at a scrap of bread that lay under his table napkin, an old
trick acquired in his commercial capacity, that still showed
itself at times.
"Well," Madame Vauquer cried in sharp tones, that rang above the
rattle of spoons and plates and the sound of other voices, "and
is there anything the matter with the bread?"
"Nothing whatever, madame," he answered; "on the contrary, it is
made of the best quality of corn; flour from Etampes."
Father Goriot |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Vision Splendid by William MacLeod Raine: hearts and bodies. He showed her a world at odds and ends, in
which it was accepted as the natural thing that some should starve
while others were waited upon by servants.
He made her see how the tendency of environment is to reduce all
things to a question of selfinterest, and how the great triumphant
fact of life is that love and kindness persist. Her interest was
insatiable. She poured questions upon him, made him tell her
stories of the things he had seen in that strange underworld that
was farther from her than Asia. So she learned of Oscar Marchant,
coughing all day over the shoes he half-soled and going out at
night to give his waning life to the service of those who needed
|
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 Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: people for the removal of the crew. The big
steam pinnace went off to her ship to bring over a
few bluejackets to furl my sails for me.
One of the surgeons had remained on board. He
came out of the forecastle looking impenetrable,
and noticed my inquiring gaze.
"There's nobody dead in there, if that's what
you want to know," he said deliberately. Then
added in a tone of wonder: "The whole crew!"
"And very bad?"
"And very bad," he repeated. His eyes were
The Shadow Line |
