"Why, Child of Clay! dost thou question the goodness of the Gods? Thy
petition was heard, and has been granted. What more wouldst thou have
had? Didst thou not beseech me that thy Boy should be the richest and
happiest of Men?"
"I did, Great Jove!" replied the trembling Mother; "but thou, in thy
strange bounty, hast given to me a Child with limbs too small and weak
to earn even the scantiest subsistence; and whose wretched deformity
must make his life a burthen to him and me."
"And what, blind Mortal! wouldst thou that I had done?" exclaimed the
God.
"Oh that thou hadst blest him with a form of Power, and a mind of
Genius!" cried the heavy-hearted parent; "then would Wealth and Joy have
gladdened his days."
"Fool that thou art!" said the Sovereign of the Skies; "listen and learn
how I have blest, and thou wouldst have curst, thy Child! Had I
conferred on him the Genius thou sighest after he would have felt but
Want and Neglect in the world. Had I quickened him with a sense of the
Beautiful, his Life would have been a Misery—his Death a Crime. For know
that Mind alone can sympathize with Mind; and mindless Man enriches
those who minister rather to the luxury of his Senses than to the
refinement of his Intellect."
"Oh, all-wise Jove!" exclaimed the abashed Mother.
"See how thou wouldst have beggared thy Boy with Genius," continued the
Thunderer. "And now listen how I have enriched him with Deformity. He
shall go forth a wonder to the staring and senseless world. Monarchs
shall smile upon him, and rejoice to gird his neck with precious Jewels.
He shall be the beloved of Matrons, and the fondling of Damsels. Crowds
shall flock to behold him, heaping his little lap with countless riches
and costly gifts. His car shall be drawn through the public ways in
triumph; and he—the stunted dwarf—shall play the Giant Emperor among
men. Thank thou, then, the Gods, oh Woman! whose bounty has given thee a
Dwarf, and not a Genius for thy Child."