Aesop's Fables · Chapter
The Goods and the Ills explained
In the youth of the world, Goods and Ills were equally balanced in human affairs, but mankind's foolishness caused Ills to multiply and threaten to banish Goods from earth.
What happens
In the youth of the world, Goods and Ills were equally balanced in human affairs, but mankind's foolishness caused Ills to multiply and threaten to banish Goods from earth. The Goods fled to heaven and complained to Jupiter, who decreed that Goods would henceforth visit men singly and rarely, while Ills roam freely and frequently. Thus, the earth is full of Ills, and Goods are seldom seen.
Themes in this chapter
Wisdom and Foolishness
The foolishness of mankind causes Ills to multiply, leading to the imbalance between Goods and Ills.
Justice and Consequence
Jupiter's decree establishes a cosmic justice: Goods are scarce due to human folly, and Ills are ever-present as a consequence.
Characters to notice
- Jupiter
Jupiter receives the Goods' complaint and decrees that they shall visit men singly and rarely, while Ills roam freely.
Key passages
“There 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.”
In the early days of humanity, good and bad things were balanced, so people were neither completely happy nor entirely miserable.
Sets the initial state of balance between Goods and Ills.
“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.”
Because of human stupidity, bad things grew so numerous and powerful that they nearly drove all good things away from the world.
Explains how Ills came to dominate due to human folly.
“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.”
Jupiter agreed to protect the Goods, ordering that they would no longer appear to humans in groups, but instead come one at a time, secretly, and only rarely and unpredictably.
Jupiter's decree explains why good things are rare and bad things are common.