Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
247. The Goods and the Ills (Perry
274)
ALL the Goods were once driven out by the Ills from that common share
which they each had in the affairs of mankind; for the Ills by reason
of their numbers had prevailed to possess the earth. The Goods wafted
themselves to heaven and asked for a righteous vengeance on their persecutors.
They entreated Jupiter that they might no longer be associated with the
Ills, as they had nothing in common and could not live together, but were
engaged in unceasing warfare; and that an indissoluble law might be laid
down for their future protection. Jupiter granted their request and decreed
that henceforth the Ills should visit the earth in company with each other,
but that the Goods should one by one enter the habitations of men. Hence
it arises that Ills abound, for they come not one by one, but in troops,
and by no means singly: while the Goods proceed from Jupiter, and are
given, not alike to all, but singly, and separately; and one by one to
those who are able to discern them.
George Fyler Townsend's translation of the fables, first published in 1867, is
in the public domain and can be found at many websites, including Project
Gutenberg.
Illustrations come from: Aesop's Fables, by George Fyler Townsend, with
illustrations by Harrison Weir, 1867, at Google
Books. |