104 THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN,

ber of miserable and painful shapes; there were more
kinds of Naughtiness than it would be of any use to
talk about. In short, everything that has since afflicted
the souls and bodies of mankind had been shut up in
the mysterious box, and given to Epimetheus and Pan-
dora to be kept safely, in order that the happy children
of the world might never be molested by them. Had
they been faithful to their trust, all would have gone
well. No grown person would ever have been sad, nor
any child have had cause to shed a single tear, from that
hour until this moment.

But—and you may see by this how a wrong act of
any one mortal is a calamity to the whole world — by
Pandora’s lifting the lid of that miserable box, and by
the fault of Epimetheus, too, in not preventing her, these
Troubles have obtained a foothold among us, and do not
seem very likely to be driven away in a hurry. For it |
was impossible, as you will easily guess, that the two
children should keep the ugly swarm in their own little
cottage. On the contrary, the first thing that they did
was to fling open the doors and windows, in hopes of get-
ting rid of them ; and, sure enough, away flew the winged
Troubles all abroad, and so pestered and tormented the
small people, everywhere about, that none of them so
much as smiled for many days afterwards. And, what
was very singular, all the flowers and dewy blossoms on
earth, not one of which had hitherto faded, now began to
droop and shed their leaves, after a day or two. The
children, moreover, who before seemed immortal in their
childhood, now grew older, day by day, and came soon