Krilof and His Fables/The Impious

In the days of old there was a people, to the shame, be it said, of the nations of the earth, which became so hard­ened in heart, that it took up arms against the gods. Noisily, with countless banners displayed, the insurgent crowds over­ run the plains, some armed with bows, others with slings. In order to kindle more fury among the people, the ringleaders, in the insolence of their hearts, declare that the tribunal of Heaven is harsh and foolish—that the gods either sleep or judge unreasonably—that the time has come to read them an unceremonious lesson—and that, as to the rest, it will not be difficult to hurl stones at the gods from the nearest hills, and to fill all Olympus with arrows.

Disquieted by the insolent blasphemies these fools uttered, all Olympus applied to Jupiter with the prayer that he would avert this evil. And even all the heavenly council was of opinion that, in order to confute the rebels, it would not be amiss to make manifest, at all events, a little miracle—a deluge or an earthquake, with thunder and lightning, or, perhaps, to crush them under a shower of stones.

"Let us wait a little," replied Jupiter; "for if they do not become quiet, but go on with their foolish violence, not fear­ing the immortals, they will be punished by their own deeds."

​Then, with a roar, the banded rebels against the gods shot into the air a mass of arrows, a cloud of stones. But, laden with innumerable deaths, inevitable and terrible, their wea­ pons fell back again upon their own heads.