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Prometheus, who was always settling what was going to happen, would have nothing to do with pretty Pandora and her box. "But Epimetheus took her and it, as he took everything that came; and married her for better for worse, as every man ought, whenever he has even the chance of a good wife. And they opened the box between them, of course, to see what was inside: for, else, of what possible use could it have been to them? "And out flew all the ills which flesh is heir to; all the children of the four great bogies, Self-will, Ignorance, Fear, and Dirt--for instance: _Measles_, _Famines_, _Monks_, _Quacks_, _Scarlatina_, _Unpaid bills_, _Idols_, _Tight stays_, _Hooping-coughs_, _Potatoes_, _Popes_, _Bad Wine_, _Wars_, _Despots_, _Peacemongers_, _Demagogues_, _And, worst of all, Naughty Boys and Girls._ But one thing remained at the bottom of the box, and that was, Hope. "So Epimetheus got a great deal of trouble, as most men do in this world: but he got the three best things in the world into the bargain--a good wife, and experience, and hope: while Prometheus had just as much trouble, and a great deal more (as you will hear), of his own making; with nothing beside, save fancies spun out of his own brain, as a spider spins her web out of her stomach. "And Prometheus kept on looking before him so far ahead, that as he was running about with a box of lucifers (which were the only useful things he ever invented, and do as much harm as good), he trod on his own nose, and tumbled down (as most deductive philosophers do), whereby he set the Thames on fire; and they have hardly put it out again yet. So he had to be chained to the top of a mountain, with a vulture by him to give him a peck whenever he stirred, lest he should turn the whole world upside down with his prophecies and his theories. "But stupid old Epimetheus went working and grubbing on, with the help of his wife Pandora, always looking behind him to see what had happened, till he really learnt to know now and then what would happen next; and understood so well which side his bread was buttered, and which way the cat jumped, that he began to make things which would work, and go on working, too; to till and drain the ground, and to make looms, and ships, and railroa
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