Naughty Pandora ! why have you opened this wicked box ? '' Pandora let fall the lid , and , starting up , looked about her , to see what had befallen Epimetheus . The thundercloud had so darkened the room that she could not very clearly discern what was in it . But she heard a disagreeable buzzing , as if a great many huge flies , or gigantic mosquitoes , or those insects which we call dorbugs and pinching-dogs , were darting about . And , as her eyes grew more accustomed to the imperfect light , she saw a crowd of ugly little shapes , with bats ' wings , looking abominably spiteful , and armed with terribly long stings in their tails . It was one of these that had stung Epimetheus . Nor was it a great while before Pandora herself began to scream , in no less pain and affright than her playfellow , and making a vast deal more hubbub about it . An odious little monster had settled on her forehead , and would have stung her I know not how deeply , if Epimetheus had not run and brushed it away . Now , if you wish to know what these ugly things might be , which had made their escape out of the box , I must tell you that they were the whole family of earthly Troubles . There were evil Passions ; there were a great many species of Cares ; there were more than a hundred and fifty Sorrows ; there were Diseases , in a vast number 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 Pandora 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 getting 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 to be youths and maidens , and men and women by and by , and aged people , before they dreamed of such a thing . Meanwhile , the naughty Pandora , and hardly less naughty Epimetheus , remained in their cottage .
Both of them had been grievously stung , and were in a good deal of pain , which seemed the more intolerable XXXXX them , because it was the very first pain that had ever been felt since the world began .
For On after as by if of that to with