nstead of
plenty, there was starvation; instead of innocence, there was crime; and
instead of happiness, there was misery.

And that was the way in which Jupiter made himself so mighty; and that
was the way in which the Golden Age came to an end.

[Illustration]

THE STORY OF PROMETHEUS.

I. HOW FIRE WAS GIVEN TO MEN.

In those old, old times, there lived two brothers who were not like
other men, nor yet like those Mighty Ones who lived upon the mountain
top. They were the sons of one of those Titans who had fought against
Jupiter and been sent in chains to the strong prison-house of the Lower
World.

The name of the elder of these brothers was Prometheus, or Forethought;
for he was always thinking of the future and making things ready for
what might happen to-morrow, or next week, or next year, or it may be in
a hundred years to come. The younger was called Epimetheus, or
Afterthought; for he was always so busy thinking of yesterday, or last
year, or a hundred years ago, that he had no care at all for what might
come to pass after a while.

For some cause Jupiter had not sent these brothers to prison with the
rest of the Titans.

Prometheus did not care to live amid the clouds on the mountain top. He
was too busy for that. While the Mighty Folk were spending their time in
idleness, drinking nectar and eating ambrosia, he was intent upon plans
for making the world wiser and better than it had ever been before.

He went out amongst men to live with them and help them; for his heart
was filled with sadness when he found that they were no longer happy as
they had been during the golden days when Saturn was king. Ah, how very
poor and wretched they were! He found them living in caves and in holes
of the earth, shivering with the cold because there was no fire, dying
of starvation, hunted by wild beasts and by one another--the most
miserable of all living creatures.

"If they only had fire," said Prometheus to himself, "they could at
least warm themselves and cook their food; and after a while they could
learn to make tools and build themselves houses. Without fire, they are
worse off than the beasts."

Then he went boldly to Jupiter and begged him to give fire to men, that
so they might have a little comfort through the long, dreary months of
winter.

"Not a spark will I give," said Jupiter. "No, indeed! Why, if men had
fire they might become strong and wise like ourselves, and after a while
they wo