ommonly naughty thing for
her to do)--but I cannot help being glad that our foolish Pandora peeped
into the box. No doubt--no doubt--the Troubles are still flying about
the world, and have increased in multitude, rather than lessened, and
are a very ugly set of imps, and carry most venomous stings in their
tails. I have felt them already, and expect to feel them more as I grow
older. But then that lovely and lightsome little figure of Hope! What in
the world could we do without her? Hope spiritualizes the earth; Hope
makes it always new; and, even in the earth's best and brightest aspect,
Hope shows it to be only the shadow of an infinite bliss hereafter!

257

"The Miraculous Pitcher," taken from _A
Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys_, is Hawthorne's
version of the Greek myth of Baucis and
Philemon. The two mysterious visitors are
Jupiter and Mercury, who, according to the
Greek myth, visited earth in disguise and were
entertained by Baucis and Philemon.

THE MIRACULOUS PITCHER

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

One evening, in times long ago, old Philemon and his old wife Baucis sat
at their cottage door, enjoying the calm and beautiful sunset. They had
already eaten their frugal supper, and intended now to spend a quiet
hour or two before bedtime. So they talked together about their garden
and their cow, and their bees, and their grape-vine, which clambered
over the cottage-wall, and on which the grapes were beginning to turn
purple. But the rude shouts of children and the fierce barking of dogs,
in the village near at hand, grew louder and louder, until, at last, it
was hardly possible for Baucis and Philemon to hear each other speak.

"Ah, wife," cried Philemon, "I fear some poor traveler is seeking
hospitality among our neighbors yonder, and, instead of giving him food
and lodging, they have set their dogs at him, as their custom is!"

"Well-a-day!" answered old Baucis, "I do wish our neighbors felt a
little more kindness for their fellow-creatures. And only think of
bringing up their children in this naughty way, and patting them on the
head when they fling stones at strangers!"

"Those children will never come to any good," said Philemon, shaking his
white head. "To tell you the truth, wife, I should not wonder if some
terrible thing were to happen to all the people in the village, unless
they mend their manners. But, as for you and me, so long as Providence