| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Critias by Plato: their own land and the rest of Hellas; they were renowned all over Europe
and Asia for the beauty of their persons and for the many virtues of their
souls, and of all men who lived in those days they were the most
illustrious. And next, if I have not forgotten what I heard when I was a
child, I will impart to you the character and origin of their adversaries.
For friends should not keep their stories to themselves, but have them in
common.
Yet, before proceeding further in the narrative, I ought to warn you, that
you must not be surprised if you should perhaps hear Hellenic names given
to foreigners. I will tell you the reason of this: Solon, who was
intending to use the tale for his poem, enquired into the meaning of the
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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 Chance by Joseph Conrad: poor Fynes in case of accident, if nothing else. I told her that
she did not know the bucolic mind. Had she given occasion for a
coroner's inquest the verdict would have been suicide, with the
implication of unhappy love. They would never be able to understand
that she had taken the trouble to climb over two post-and-rail
fences only for the fun of being reckless. Indeed even as I talked
chaffingly I was greatly struck myself by the fact.
She retorted that once one was dead what horrid people thought of
one did not matter. It was said with infinite contempt; but
something like a suppressed quaver in the voice made me look at her
again. I perceived then that her thick eyelashes were wet. This
Chance |
