Pandora let fall the lid, and, starting up, looked about her to see what had happened to Epimetheus. 潘多拉让盖子落下，并看看四周，看看厄毗米修斯发生了什么。

The thundercloud had so darkened the room that she could not very clearly see what was in it. 雷雨云让屋子变得非常昏暗，她看不清楚里面的东西。

But she heard a disagreeable buzzing, as if a great many huge flies, or giant mosquitoes, were darting about. 但她听到了令人讨厌的嗡嗡声，好似有许多苍蝇，或是巨大的蚊子在狂奔。

And as her eyes grew more accustomed to the imperfect light, she saw a crowd of ugly little shapes, with bats' wings, 当她的眼睛更加适应这样的光线后，她看到了一群奇怪样子的东西，且有着蝙蝠的翅膀，

looking very spiteful, and armed with terribly long stings in their tails. 看起来很恶毒，尾巴上带有可怕的刺。

It was one of these that had stung Epimetheus. Nor was it a great while before Pandora herself began to scream in no less pain than her playfellow. 就是它们蛰了厄毗米修斯，没过多久潘多拉也发出了疼痛的尖叫声。

An ugly little monster had settled on her forehead, and would have stung her if Epimetheus had not run and brushed it away. 一个丑陋的怪物落在了她的前额，如果厄毗米修斯没有跑，没有把它清走，那么被蛰的就是潘多拉了。

Now, if you wish to know what these ugly things were which had made their escape out of the box, 如果你想知道有哪些可怕的东西从盒子里跑出来了，

I must tell you that they were the whole family of earthly Troubles. There were a great many kinds of Cares; 我要告诉你的是，这是地球麻烦的整个家族，这里有许多种类的关怀；

there were more than a hundred fifty Sorrows; there were Diseases, in a vast number of miserable and painful shapes; 超过150种悲伤，还有疾病，还有不同形状的苦难和痛苦；

there were more kinds of Naughtiness than it would be of any use for us to talk about. 这里的各种淘气比我们用来谈论的淘气要多得多。

In short, everything that has since troubled our souls and bodies had been shut up in the mysterious box 总之，自此扰乱我们灵魂和身体的麻烦都曾关在这个神秘的盒子里，

and given to Epimetheus and Pandora to be kept safely, in order that the happy children of the world might never be harmed by them. 交给厄毗米修斯和潘多拉保管，为了让这些欢快的孩子永远不受伤害。

But by Pandora's lifting the lid of that miserable box, and by the fault of Epimetheus, too, in not preventing her, 但潘多拉将可恶的盒子打开，厄毗米修斯也有错误，他没有阻止她。

these Troubles have gained a foothold among us, and do not seem likely to be driven away in a hurry. 这些麻烦在我们之间取得了一席之地，似乎不太可能立刻赶走它们。

For it was impossible, as you will easily guess, that the two children should keep the ugly swarm in their own little cottage. 因为这是不可能的，你可能很容易猜到，这两个孩子应该把这些丑陋的家伙锁在自己的小别墅内。

The first thing that they did was to fling open the doors and windows in hope of getting rid of them. 但他们干的第一件事就是打开窗门赶走他们。

Sure enough, away flew the winged Troubles all abroad to torment the small people, everywhere. 毫无疑问，这些飞走的麻烦都来折磨其它地方的小孩子了。

And what was very strange, all the flowers and dewy blossoms on earth, not one of which had before faded, 很奇怪的是，地球上的所有花朵和湿露的花簇此前从未凋谢过，

now began to droop and shed their leaves, after a day or two. 但一两天过后，它们开始掉叶和打蔫，

The children who before seemed always young now day by day grew older and came to be men and women by-and-by. 这些看起来永远年轻的孩子开始逐渐变老，未来将变成男人和女人。

WHAT HOPE DOES FOR US 希望对于我们来说意味着什么

Meanwhile the naughty Pandora and hardly less naughty Epimetheus remained in their cottage. 与此同时，淘气的潘多拉和不淘气的厄毗米修斯依然待在别墅里。

Both of them had been grievously stung, and were in a good deal of pain, which seemed the more unbearable to them 两人都被蛰地不轻，忍受很大的痛苦，这对他们来说似乎难以忍受，

because it was the very first pain that had ever been felt since the world began. 因为这是世界开始以来他们第一次感受疼痛。