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