Her name was Pandora . The first thing that Pandora saw , when she entered the cottage where Epimetheus dwelt , was a great box . And almost the first question which she put to him , after crossing the threshold , was this , -- `` Epimetheus , what have you in that box ? '' `` My dear little Pandora , '' answered Epimetheus , `` that is a secret , and you must be kind enough not to ask any questions about it . The box was left here to be kept safely , and I do not myself know what it contains . '' `` But , who gave it to you ? '' asked Pandora . `` And where did it come from ? '' `` That is a secret , too , '' replied Epimetheus . `` How provoking ! '' exclaimed Pandora , pouting her lip . `` I wish the great ugly box were out of the way ! '' `` O come , do n't think of it , any more , '' cried Epimetheus . `` Let us run out of doors , and have some nice play with the other children . '' It is thousands of years since Epimetheus and Pandora were alive ; and the world , nowadays , is a very different sort of thing from what it was in their time . Then , everybody was a child . There needed no fathers and mothers to take care of the children ; because there was no danger , nor trouble of any kind , and no clothes to be mended , and there was always plenty to eat and drink . Whenever a child wanted his dinner , he found it growing on a tree ; and , if he looked at the tree in the morning , he could see the expanding blossom of that night 's supper ; or , at eventide , he saw the tender bud of to-morrow 's breakfast . It was a very pleasant life indeed . No labor to be done , no tasks to be studied ; nothing but sports and dances , and sweet voices of children talking , or carolling like birds , or gushing out in merry laughter , throughout the livelong day .
What was most wonderful XXXXX all , the children never quarrelled among themselves ; neither had they any crying fits ; nor , since time first began , had a single one of these little mortals ever gone apart into a corner , and sulked .
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