Not a single soul or body , since these children were first sent to enjoy themselves on the beautiful earth , had ever been sick , or out of sorts . At length , discovering that , somehow or other , he put a stop to all the play , Epimetheus judged it best to go back to Pandora , who was in a humor better suited to his own . But , with a hope of giving her pleasure , he gathered some flowers , and made them into a wreath , which he meant to put upon her head . The flowers were very lovely , -- roses , and lilies , and orange-blossoms , and a great many more , which left a trail of fragrance behind , as Epimetheus carried them along ; and the wreath was put together with as much skill as could reasonably be expected of a boy . The fingers of little girls , it has always appeared to me , are the fittest to twine flower-wreaths ; but boys could do it , in those days , rather better than they can now . And here I must mention that a great black cloud had been gathering in the sky , for some time past , although it had not yet overspread the sun . But , just as Epimetheus reached the cottage door , this cloud began to intercept the sunshine , and thus to make a sudden and sad obscurity . He entered softly ; for he meant , if possible , to steal behind Pandora , and fling the wreath of flowers over her head , before she should be aware of his approach . But , as it happened , there was no need of his treading so very lightly . He might have trod as heavily as he pleased , -- as heavily as a grown man , -- as heavily , I was going to say , as an elephant , -- without much probability of Pandora 's hearing his footsteps . She was too intent upon her purpose . At the moment of his entering the cottage , the naughty child had put her hand to the lid , and was on the point of opening the mysterious box . Epimetheus beheld her . If he had cried out , Pandora would probably have withdrawn her hand , and the fatal mystery of the box might never have been known . But Epimetheus himself , although he said very little about it , had his own share of curiosity to know what was inside . Perceiving that Pandora was resolved to find out the secret , he determined that his playfellow should not be the only wise person in the cottage . And if there were anything pretty or valuable in the box , he meant to take half of it to himself . Thus , after all his sage speeches to Pandora about restraining her curiosity , Epimetheus turned out to be quite as foolish , and nearly as much in fault , as she . So , whenever we blame Pandora for what happened , we must not forget to shake our heads at Epimetheus likewise . As Pandora raised the lid , the cottage grew very dark and dismal ; for the black cloud had now swept quite over the sun , and seemed to have buried it alive .
There had , for a little while past , been a low growling and muttering , which all XXXXX once broke into a heavy peal of thunder .
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