* * * * *

Do not attach too much importance to the two instances I have related.
This beloved son and the good man Æschylus are beside the mark.

Nevertheless, however blind and lying is the fortuneteller's art, it may
yet hit home once in a thousand times. That is just a matter of chance.




[Illustration]

XXI

JUPITER AND THE THUNDERBOLTS

(BOOK VIII--No. 20)


One day, as Jupiter seated on high looked down upon the world, he was
incensed at the faults committed by mankind. "Let us," he said, "have
some other occupants in the regions of the universe in place of these
present inhabitants who importune and weary me. Go you to Hades,
Mercury, and bring hither the cruellest of the furies. This time, O race
that I have too tenderly nurtured, you shall perish."

After this outburst the temper of the god began to cool.