THE THIEF AND THE LAMP
A
thief lit his lamp from the altar of Jupiter and then robbed the
god by the light of his own fire. When he left, laden with the
spoils of sacrilege, holy Religion herself suddenly began to speak,
'Although those gifts were the offerings of wicked man and therefore
hateful to me (so that I am in no way offended by their theft),
you will nevertheless pay for this with your life, you villain,
when the day of your assigned punishment arrives! However, so that
our fire -- this fire which the pious employ in their worship of
the awesome gods -- may never serve to illuminate the path of crime,
I hereby forbid all such traffic in light.' This is why even today
one may no longer light a lamp from the flame that is sacred to
the gods, nor is it permitted to use a lamp to light the sacred
fire.
Only the author who devised this story, and no on else, can explain to you
how many useful lessons it contains. First of all, it shows that someone that
you yourself have supported often proves to be your worst enemy; second, it
shows that crimes are not punished by the wrath of the gods but only at the
time that is decreed by the Fates; finally, it forbids good people to have anything
in common with evil-doers. |