24 THE GOODS AND THE ILLS 善与恶

THE GOODS AND THE ILLSThere was a time in the youth of the world when Goods and Ills entered equally into the concerns of men, so that the Goods did not prevail to make them altogether blessed, nor the Ills to make them wholly miserable. But owing to the foolishness of mankind the Ills multiplied greatly in number and increased in strength, until it seemed as though they would deprive the Goods of all share in human affairs, and banish them from the earth. The latter, therefore, betook themselves to heaven and complained to Jupiter of the treatment they had received, at the same time praying him to grant them protection from the Ills, and to advise them concerning the manner of their intercourse with men. Jupiter granted their request for protection, and decreed that for the future they should not go among men openly in a body, and so be liable to attack from the hostile Ills, but singly and unobserved, and at infrequent and unexpected intervals. Hence it is that the earth is full of Ills, for they come and go as they please and are never far away; while Goods, alas! come one by one only, and have to travel all the way from heaven, so that they are very seldom seen.善与恶世界形成之初，善与恶平等地并存于人心，这样一来。善不曾受称赞，恶也不曾遭唾弃。但是，由于人类的愚蠢，恶开始成倍的增加，其力量也相继强大起来，后来似乎要剥夺所有善应占有的份额，将其驱逐出地球。因此，力量弱小的善努力回到了天上，向朱庇特（宙斯）抱怨自己的遭遇，同时祈请他同意自己对恶的防卫，并且还征询重返人间的建议，朱庇特同意了他们的请求，并且还下令让他们将来不要公然的进入人间，因为这样易于受到心怀敌意的邪恶攻击，而是要逐一悄然地回归，不要太频繁，应在人们的意料之外。由此，地球上充满了邪恶，因为他们可以随意往返，而且永远不会远离人类，而善只能一个一个地来，他们要想方设法地从天上下了，必须悄悄地，才能不被发现。