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THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
THE 
 
 BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 
 
 FROM APULEIUS. 
 
 %si|y^ 
 
 l NEW YORK: 
 
 PUBLICATION OFFICE, BIBLE HOUSE. 
 JAMES PORTEUS, GEN'L AGENT. 
 
 1867. 
 

 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by L. A. Osborn, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 
 District of New York. 
 
 Eleetxotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry, 
 No. 4 Spring Lane. 
 
 Comhill Press of Geo. C. Rand & Avery, 
 
 3 Cornhill, Eoston. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 APULEIUS, the author of this beautiful 
 episode, was a native of Madaura, an 
 inland town of Africa, where he was born in 
 the early part of the second century. He re- 
 ceived the first rudiments of education at Car- 
 thage, and there adopted the Platonic system 
 of philosophy, in which he perfected himself 
 by subsequent studies at Athens. His works 
 are numerous, of which, probably, the most 
 celebrated is The Golden Ass, from which the 
 story of Cupid and Psyche is taken. In this 
 work, many writers, especially Bishop Warbur- 
 ton, have discovered a profound theological pur- 
 pose. "There have been some morals given 
 it," says the translator of the edition of 1709, 
 "but few or none that seem to fall within the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 design of the inventor of the fable. Some have 
 made it the union of the soul and body ; others, 
 Adam and Eve and the tree of knowledge. 
 For my part, it seems to me to be a moral 
 chiefly against curiosity, as is instanced twice 
 by Cupid himself. The heathen priesthood had 
 reason to hurl their batteries against it, for they 
 were conscious of follies so great in their gross 
 imposition on the people that they might well 
 fear a discovery from a liberty to curiosity." 
 
 In the concluding pages of this volume, 
 which, we think, contains all that is worth 
 preservation in the various translations hereto- 
 fore published, the reader will find copious notes 
 and explanations. To these we refer him, with 
 the wish that they and their subject may afford 
 both entertainment and instruction. 
 
THE STORY OP CUPID AND PSYCHE. 
 
THE BIETH OF PLEASUKE. 
 
 XT 7E ought not to despair of those good 
 * » events which we sigh for in the extrem- 
 ity of such misfortunes as seem to forbid all 
 hopes of relief. For the evils of life, well- 
 managed, are a sort of sauce to the goods of 
 our happier days, which gives them a greater 
 relish. The story of Cupid and Psyche, so val- 
 ued of old, and so admired in all ages, is both 
 a lesson against the curiosity of the weaker sex, 
 and a pregnant proof of a certain, if not a 
 speedy, deliverance by providence from the sad- 
 dest of misfortunes. The parallel of this story, 
 
 (9) 
 
10 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 with many that have been enacted since the 
 world began, makes it more proper for recital. 
 Most people have been baffled in their highest 
 hopes, and some still sigh for their consum- 
 mation. Psyche lost her Cupid, indeed by her 
 own fault ; — but the story itself will best ex- 
 plain the matter and afford the highest pleasure. 
 
 In a certain city in Greece there lived a king 
 and queen, who had three daughters of remark- 
 able beauty. The charms of the two elder, 
 though sufficient to engage the hearts of the 
 most fastidious, were still thought not to exceed 
 all possible measure of praise ; but as for the 
 youngest sister, human speech was too poor to 
 express, much less adequately to extol, her ex- 
 quisite and surpassing loveliness. The story of 
 her beauty was so great as not to be confined 
 to the natives of her paternal dominions ; but 
 strangers, whom the fame of the extraordinary 
 spectacle gathered to the spot, were struck dumb 
 with astonishment at her unapproachable charms, 
 and paid her religious adoration, as though she 
 were the goddess Venus herself. 
 
 And now the report spread through the neigh- 
 
THE STOKY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 11 
 
 boring cities and adjacent countries, that the 
 goddess whom the azure depths of the ocean 
 had brought forth, and the spray of the foamy 
 billows had nurtured, dwelt in the midst of mor- 
 tals, and suffered them indiscriminately to behold 
 her divine form ; or, at least, that once again, 
 impregnated by a new emanation from the starry 
 heavens, the earth, not the sea, had brought 
 forth another Venus, gifted with the flower of 
 youth. Thus did her fame travel rapidly every 
 day ; thus did the news soon traverse the neigh- 
 boring islands, a great part of the continent, and 
 multitudes of provinces. Many were the mor- 
 tals who, by long journeys over land, and over 
 the deep sea, flocked from all quarters to behold 
 this glorious specimen of the age. No pilgrim- 
 age was made to Paphos l or Cnidus, and even 
 the Cythereans themselves forgot their homage 
 to the altars of Venus. Her sacred rites were 
 abandoned, her temples suffered to decay, her 
 
 1 Paphos was a city in the Isle of Cyprus. Cnidus was a 
 city in Caria. Cythera, now Cerigo, was an island situate to 
 the south of Laconia. These places were all famous for the 
 worship of Venus. 
 
12 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 cushions l trampled under foot, her ceremonies 
 neglected, her statues left without chaplets, and 
 her desolate altars defiled with cold ashes. A 
 young girl was supplicated in her stead, and the 
 divinity of the mighty goddess was worshipped 
 under human features ; and the maiden was pro- 
 pitiated in her morning walks with victims and 
 banquets offered her in the name of the absent 
 Venus. And ever, as she passed along the 
 streets, the people crowded round, and ador- 
 ingly presented her with garlands, and scattered 
 her path with flowers. 
 
 This extraordinary transfer of celestial honors 
 to a mortal maiden greatly incensed the real 
 Venus ; and, unable to suppress her indignation, 
 and shaking her head in towering wrath, she 
 thus soliloquized : — 
 
 "Behold how the primal parent of all things, 
 behold how the first source of the elements, 2 
 
 1 Couches on which the statues of the gods reclined in the 
 temples, with delicate viands placed before them. 
 
 2 The ancient philosophers considered Venus to be the first 
 source of all things. See the opening lines of the poem of 
 Lucretius. 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 13 
 
 behold how I, the genial Venus of the whole 
 world, am treated ! The honor belonging to my 
 majesty shared by a mortal girl ! My name, 
 that is registered in heaven, profaned by the 
 dross of earth ! I must be content, forsooth, 
 with the uncertain homage of a vicarious wor- 
 ship, and with my share in expiations offered 
 to me in common with another ! And a mor- 
 tal girl shall go about in my likeness ! It is 
 all for nought that the shepherd Paris, whose 
 justice and good faith the mighty Jupiter ap- 
 proved, preferred me to such mighty goddesses, 1 
 
 1 The well-known fable to which this alludes is thus beau- 
 tifully unfolded by the Platonic Sallust, in his treatise on the 
 Gods and the World. " In this fable, which is of the mixed 
 kind, it is said that Discord, at a banquet of the gods, threw 
 a golden apple, and that a dispute about it arising among 
 the goddesses, they were sent by Jupiter to take the judgment 
 of Paris, who, charmed with the beauty of Yenus, gave her 
 the apple in preference to the rest. But the banquet de- 
 notes the supermundane powers of the gods ; and on this 
 account they subsist in conjunction with each other. And the 
 golden apple denotes the world, which, on account of its com- 
 position from contrary natures, is not improperly said to be 
 thrown by Discord, or strife. Again, however, since different 
 gifts are imparted to the world by different gods, they appear 
 
14 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 on account of my unparalleled beauty. But 
 this creature, whosoever she be, shall not so 
 joyously usurp my honors ; for I will soon cause 
 her to repent of her contraband good looks." 
 
 Thus saying, the goddess forthwith summons 
 her son, that winged and very malapert boy, 
 who, with his evil manners, sets at nought all 
 ordinary institutions, and, armed with flames and 
 with arrows, runs by night from one man's 
 house to another, and blighting matrimonial 
 happiness on all sides, commits such mighty 
 mischiefs with impunity, and does nothing what- 
 ever that is good. 
 
 This young gentlemen, mischievous enough in 
 his own nature, she incites to still more evil by 
 her words ; she brings him to the city, and 
 points out Psyche 1 (for that was the name of 
 the maiden), and after telling him the whole 
 
 to contest with each other for the apple. And a soul living 
 according to sense (for this is Paris), not perceiving other 
 powers in the universe, says that the beauty of Venus alone 
 is the contended apple." — Taylor, 
 
 1 This was the Greek name for the soul ; a moth also was 
 called by the same name. 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 15 
 
 story about that mortal's rivalry of her own 
 beauty, groaning with rage and indignation, she 
 said, — 
 
 "I conjure you by the ties of maternal love, 
 by the sweet wounds inflicted by your arrow, 
 by the warmth, delightful as honey, of that 
 torch, to afford your parent her revenge, ay, 
 and a full one, too ; and as you respect myself, 
 severely punish this rebellious beauty ; and this 
 one thing, above all, use all your endeavors to 
 effect : let this maiden be seized with the most 
 burning love for the lowest of mankind, one 
 whom fortune has stripped of rank, patrimony, 
 and even of personal safety : one so degraded, 
 that he cannot find his equal in wretchedness 
 throughout the w r hole world." 
 
 Having said these words, and long and ten- 
 derly kissed her son, she sought the neighboring 
 margin of the shore, on which the waves ebb 
 and flow, and with rosy feet brushing along the 
 topmost spray of the dancing waters, she took 
 her seat on the watery surface of the main, 
 where the powers of the deep, the instant that 
 she conceived the wish, appeared at once, as 
 
16 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 though she had previously commanded their at- 
 tendance. 
 
 The daughters of Nereus came to pay their 
 court to her, all singing in chorus ; Portunus, 
 too, rough with his azure-colored beard, and 
 Salacia, 1 weighed down with her lapful of fish, 
 with little Palaemon, their charioteer, riding upon 
 a dolphin, and then troops of Tritons, furrowing 
 the main in all directions. One softly sounded 
 his melodious shell ; another, with a silken 
 canopy, 2 protected her from the unpleasant heat 
 of the sun ; a third held a mirror before the 
 eyes of his mistress ; while others, again, swam 
 yoked to her car. Such was the train that at- 
 tended Venus, as she proceeded to the palace 
 of Oceanus. 
 
 In the mean time, Psyche, with all her ex- 
 quisite beauty, derived no advantage whatever 
 from her good looks ; she was gazed on by all, 
 
 1 The goddess Salacia was so called from " Salum," the 
 " salt sea." She presided over the depths of the ocean. 
 
 2 So, in the Fasti of Ovid, we find Hercules holding a 
 canopy or umbrella over Queen Omphale, to protect her from 
 the rays of the sun. 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PYSCHE. 17 
 
 praised by all, and yet no one, king, noble, or 
 plebeian even, came to woo her for his bride. 
 They admired, no doubt, her divine beauty, but 
 then they all admired it as they would a statue 
 exquisitely wrought. 
 
 Long before this, her two elder sisters, whose 
 more moderate charms had not been bruited 
 abroad among the nations, had been wooed by 
 kings, and happily wedded to them ; but Psyche, 
 forlorn virgin, sat at home bewailing her lonely 
 condition, faint in body and sick at heart ; sick 
 of her own beauty, though it delighted all the 
 rest of the world. 
 
 The wretched father of this most unfortunate 
 daughter, suspecting the enmity of the gods, and 
 dreading their wrath, consulted the very ancient 
 oracle of the Milesian god, 1 and sought of that 
 mighty divinity, with prayers and victims, a hus- 
 band for the maiden whom no one cared to have. 
 But Apollo, though a Grecian and an Ionian, 
 by right of the founder of Miletus, delivered 
 
 1 Of Apollo, who had a temple and oracle at Miletus, a 
 city bordering on Ionia and Caria, and founded by a son of 
 Apollo, whose name it bore. 
 
 2 
 
18 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 an oracle in Latin verse to the following ef- 
 fect : — 
 
 " Montis in excelsi scopulo desiste puellani 
 Ornatam mundo funerei thalami : 
 Nee speres generum mortali stirpe creatum, 
 Sed saevum atque ferum, vipereumque malum ; 
 Qui, pinnis volitans super sethera, euncta fatigat, 
 Elammaque et ferro singula debilitat ; 
 Quern tremit ipse Jo vis ; quo numina terrificantur ; 
 Mumina quern horrescunt, et Stygise tenebrae." l 
 
 The king, who had led a happy life till then, 
 on hearing the announcement of the sacred or- 
 acle, returned home full of sorrow, to impart to 
 his queen the behests of inauspicious fate. Many- 
 days together were passed in grief, and tears, and 
 lamentation. But time pressed, and the dire or- 
 acle had now to be fulfilled. The procession 
 
 1 " On some high mountain's craggy summit place 
 The virgin, decked for deadly nuptial rites ; 
 Nor hope a son-in-law of mortal race, 
 But a dire mischief, viperous and fierce ; 
 Who flies through ether, and with fire and sword 
 Tires and debilitates whate'er exists, 
 Terrific to the powers that reign on high. 
 E'en mighty Jove the winged destroyer dreads, 
 And streams and Stygian shades abhor the pest." — Taylor. 
 
THE STOKY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 19 
 
 was formed for the deadly nuptials of the ill- 
 fated maiden ; the lighted torch burned ashy, 
 black, and sooty ; the strains of conjugal Juno's 
 pipes were changed for the plaintive Lydian mel- 
 ody ; the joyful hymeneal song closed in dismal 
 wailing, and the bride wiped away her tears with 
 the nuptial veil 1 itself. The whole city groaned 
 in sympathy with the sad destiny of the afflicted 
 family, and a public mourning was immediately 
 proclaimed. 
 
 The necessity, however, of complying with 
 the celestial mandates importunately called the 
 wretched Psyche to her doom. The solemn pre- 
 liminaries, therefore, of this direful marriage be- 
 ing completed in extreme sorrow, the funeral 
 procession of the living dead moved on, accom- 
 panied by all the people ; and the weeping 
 Psyche went not to her nuptials, but to her 
 obsequies. And while her woe-begone parents, 
 
 1 This, which was called " flammeum," was of a bright 
 yellow, or flame color. If the torches, that were carried 
 before the bride, shed a dim light, or sent forth much 
 smoke, or were extinguished by the wind, it was considered 
 a bad omen. 
 
20 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 overwhelmed with horror, strove to delay the 
 execution of the abominable deed, the daughter 
 herself thus exhorted them to compliance : — 
 
 "Why torment your unfortunate old age with 
 continual weeping? Why waste your breath, 
 which is more dear to me than to you, with 
 repeated lamentations? Why deform your fea- 
 tures, to me so venerable, with unavailing 
 tears? Why lacerate my eyes in afflicting your 
 own? Why tear your hoary locks? Why beat 
 your bosoms, and those hallowed breasts? Are 
 these to be the glorious results to you of my 
 surpassing beauty? Too late do you perceive 
 that you have been smitten by the deadly shaft 
 of envy. Alas ! then should you have wept and 
 lamented, then bewailed me as lost, when tribes 
 and nations celebrated me with divine honors, 
 and when, with one consent, they styled me a 
 new-born Venus. Now do I feel and see that 
 through that name of Venus alone I perish. 
 Lead me away, then, and expose me on the 
 rock to which the oracle has devoted me : I am 
 in haste to encounter these auspicious nuptials ; 
 I am in haste to see this noble bridegroom of 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 21 
 
 mine. Why should I delay? "Why avoid his 
 approach, who has been born for the destruction 
 of the whole world ? " 
 
 The maiden, after these words, said no more, 
 but, with unfaltering steps, took her place in the 
 multitudinous procession. They advanced to 
 the destined rock on a lofty mountain, and left 
 the maiden alone on the summit ; the nuptial 
 torches, with which they had lighted their way, 
 were now extinguished in their tears, and 
 thrown aside ; the ceremony was at an end, and 
 with drooping heads they took their homeward 
 way. As for her wretched parents, sinking un- 
 der the weight of a calamity so great, they shut 
 themselves up in their darkened palace, and 
 abandoned themselves to perpetual night. Mean- 
 while, as Psyche lay trembling and weeping in 
 dismay on the summit of the rock, the mild 
 breeze of the gently-blowing Zephyr played 
 round her garments, fluttering and gradually 
 expanding them till they lifted her up, and the 
 god, wafting her with his tranquil breath adown 
 the lofty mountain side, laid her softly on the 
 flowing turf in the lap of the valley. 
 
SECOND PART. 
 
 PSYCHE, delightfully reclining in the pleas- 
 ant and grassy spot, upon a bed of dewy 
 herbage, the place to which the gentle Zephyr 
 had conveyed her, felt her extreme agitation of 
 mind allayed, and sank into a sweet sleep, from 
 which she awoke refreshed in body, and with a 
 mind more composed. She then espied a grove, 
 closely planted with vast and lofty trees ; and 
 she also discovered a fountain in the middle of 
 the grove, with water limpid as crystal. Near 
 the fall of the fountain there was a kingly pal- 
 ace, not raised by human hands, but by divine 
 skill. You might know, from the very entrance 
 of the palace, that you were looking upon the 
 splendid and delightful abode of some celestial 
 being. For the lofty ceilings, curiously arched 
 
 (22) 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 23 
 
 with cedar and ivory, were supported by golden 
 columns. The walls were incrusted all over 
 with silver carving, with wild beasts and do- 
 mestic animals of all kinds, presenting them- 
 selves to the view of those who entered the 
 palace. A wonderful man was he, a demigod ; 
 nay, surely, a god, who, with such exquisite 
 subtilty of art, moulded such vast quantities of 
 silver into so various forms. 
 
 The very pavement itself consisted of pre- 
 cious stones cut out and arranged so as to form 
 pictures of divers kinds. Blessed, thrice blessed, 
 those who can tread gems and bracelets under 
 foot ! The other parts, as well, of this palace of 
 vast extent, were precious beyond all computa- 
 tion ; and the walls, being everywhere strength- 
 ened with bars of gold, shone with their own 
 lustre, so that, even were the sun to withhold 
 his light, the palace could make for itself a 
 day of its own; so effulgent were the chambers, 
 the porticos, and the doors. The furniture, too, 
 was on a scale commensurate with the majesty 
 of this abode ; so that it might well be looked 
 upon as a palace built by mighty Jove, where 
 he mio:ht dwell anions' mankind. 
 
24 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 Invited by the delightful appearance of the 
 place, Psyche approached it, and, gradually 
 taking courage, stepped over the threshold. 
 The beauty of what she beheld lured her on, 
 and everything filled her with admiration. In 
 another part of the palace she beheld magnifi- 
 cent repositories, stored with immense riches ; 
 nothing, in fact, exists which was not there 
 to be found. But besides the admiration which 
 such enormous wealth excited, it was particu- 
 larly surprising that this treasury of the uni- 
 versal world was protected by no chain, no bar, 
 no guard. 
 
 Here, while Psyche's gaze was ravished with 
 delight, a bodiless voice thus addressed her : 
 " Why, lady," it said, " are you astonished at 
 such vast riches? All are yours. Eetire there- 
 fore to your chamber, and refresh your wearied 
 limbs on your couch, and, when you think 
 proper, repair to the bath ; for we, whose voices 
 you now hear, are your handmaidens, and will 
 carefully attend to all your commands, and, 
 when we have dressed you, a royal banquet 
 will be placed before you without delay." 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 25 
 
 Psyche was sensible of the goodness of divine 
 providence, and, obedient to the admonitions of 
 the unembodied voices, relieved her fatigue, first 
 with sleep, and afterwards with the bath. After 
 this, perceiving, close at hand, a semicircular 
 dais with a raised seat, and what seemed to be 
 the apparatus for a banquet intended for her 
 refreshment, she readily took her place ; where- 
 upon sparkling nectareous wines, and numerous 
 dishes containing various kinds of dainties, were 
 immediately served up, impelled, as it seemed, 
 by some spiritual impulse, for there were no 
 visible attendants. Not one human being could 
 she see. She only heard words that were uttered, 
 and had voices alone for her servants. After 
 an exquisite banquet was served some one 
 entered, and sang unseen, while another struck 
 the lyre, which was no more visible than him- 
 self. Then a swell of voices, as of a multitude 
 singing in full chorus, was wafted to her ears, 
 though not one of the vocalists could she 
 descry. 
 
 After these delights had ceased, and the day 
 departed, Psyche retired to bed ; and about 
 
26 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 midnight a certain gentle murmuring sound fell 
 upon her ears. Then, alarmed for her honor, 
 in consequence of the profound solitude of the 
 place, she trembled and was filled with terror, 
 and dreaded that of which she was ignorant 
 more than any misfortune. And now her un- 
 known bridegroom ascended the couch, made 
 Psyche his wife, and hastily left her before 
 break of day. Immediately the attendant voices 
 of the bedchamber came to aid the wounded 
 modesty of the new-made bride. This course 
 was continued for a length of time ; and, as by 
 nature it has been so ordained, the novelty, 
 by its constant repetition, afforded her delight, 
 and the sound of the voices was the solace of 
 her solitude. 
 
THIED PAET, 
 
 IN the mean time, the parents of Psyche were 
 wasting their old ao;e in sorrow and lamen- 
 tation ; and, the report of her fate becoming 
 more widely extended, her elder sisters had 
 learned all the particulars ; whereupon, leaving 
 their homes in deep grief, they hastened to visit 
 and comfort their parents. On that night did 
 Psyche's husband thus address her, — for she 
 could discern his presence with her ears and 
 hands, though not with her eyes : — 
 
 "Most charming Psyche, dear wife, cruel for- 
 tune now threatens you with a deadly peril, 
 which needs, I think, to be guarded against with 
 the most vigilant attention. For ere long your 
 sisters, who are alarmed at the report of your 
 death, in their endeavors to discover traces of 
 
 (27) 
 
28 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 you, will arrive at yonder rock. If, then, you 
 should chance to hear their lamentations, make 
 them no reply; no, nor even so much as turn 
 your eyes towards them. By doing otherwise 
 you will cause most grievous sorrow to me, and 
 utter destruction to yourself." 
 
 Psyche seemingly assented to what her husband 
 had enjoined her, and promised that she would 
 act agreeably to his desire. But when he and 
 the night had departed together, the poor thing 
 consumed the whole day in tears and lamenta- 
 tions, exclaiming, over and over again, that she 
 was now utterly lost, since, besides being thus 
 confined in a splendid prison, deprived of human 
 conversation, she was not even allowed to re- 
 lieve the minds of her sisters, who were sorrow- 
 ing for her, nor, indeed, so much as to see 
 them. Without having refreshed herself, there- 
 fore, with the bath or with food, or, in fact, 
 with any solace whatever, but weeping plente- 
 ously, she retired to rest. Shortly afterwards, 
 her husband, coming to her bed earlier than 
 usual, embraced her as she wept, and thus gently 
 reproached her : — 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 29 
 
 "Is this, my Psyche, what you promised me? 
 What am I, your husband, henceforth to expect of 
 you? What can I now hope for, when neither by 
 day nor by night, not even in the midst of our 
 conjugal endearments, you cease to be distracted 
 with grief? Very well, then, act now just as you 
 please, and comply with the baneful dictates of 
 your inclination. However, when you begin too 
 late to repent, you will recall to mind my serious 
 admonitions." 
 
 Upon this, she had recourse to prayers ; and 
 threatening that she would put an end to herself 
 if her request were denied, she extorted from her 
 husband a consent that she might see her sisters, 
 to soothe their grief, and enjoy their conversation. 
 This he yielded to the entreaties of his new-made 
 wife, and he gave her permission, besides, to pre- 
 sent her sisters with as much gold and as many 
 jewels as she pleased ; but he warned her repeat- 
 edly and so often as to terrify her, never, on any 
 occasion, to be persuaded, by the pernicious advice 
 of her sisters, to make any inquiries concerning 
 the form of her husband, lest, by a sacrilegious 
 curiosity, she might cast herself down from such 
 
30 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 an exalted position of good fortune, and never 
 again enjoy his love. 
 
 She thanked her husband for his indulgence ; 
 and now, having quite recovered her spirits, she 
 said, "Ah ! I would suffer death a hundred times 
 rather than be deprived of your most delightful 
 company, for I love you, yes, I dote upon you to 
 desperation, whoever you are, ay, even as I love 
 my own soul, nor would I give you in exchange 
 for Cupid himself. But this also I beseech you 
 to grant to my prayers ; bid Zephyr, this servant 
 of yours, convey my sisters to me, in the same 
 manner in which he brought me hither." Then, 
 pressing his lips with persuasive kisses, murmur- 
 ing endearing words, and enfolding him with her 
 clinging limbs, she called him coaxingly, "My 
 sweet, my husband, dear soul of thy Psyche." 
 Overcome by the power of love, her husband 
 yielded reluctantly, and promised all she desired. 
 After this, upon the approach of morning, he 
 acfain vanished from the arms of his wife. 
 
 Meanwhile, the sisters, having inquired the 
 way to the rock on which Psyche was abandoned, 
 hastened thither ; and there they wept and beat 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AXD PSYCHE. 31 
 
 their breasts till the rocks and crags resounded 
 with their lamentations. They called to their 
 unfortunate sister, by her own name, until the 
 shrill sound of their shrieks, descending the de- 
 clivities of the mountain, reached the ears of 
 Psyche, who ran out of her palace in delirious 
 trepidation, and exclaimed, — 
 
 ff Why do you needlessly afflict yourselves with 
 doleful lamentations? Here am I, whom you 
 mourn ; cease those dismal accents, and now at 
 last dry up those tears that have so long bedewed 
 your cheeks, since you may now embrace her 
 whom you have been lamenting." 
 
 Then, summoning Zephyr, she acquaints him 
 with her husband's commands, in obedience to 
 which, instantly wafting them on his gentlest 
 breeze, he safely conveyed them to Psyche. Now 
 do they enjoy mutual embraces, and hurried 
 kisses ; and their tears, that had ceased to flow, 
 return, after a time, summoned forth by joy. 
 "Now come," said Psyche, " enter my dwelling in 
 gladness, and cheer up your afflicted spirits with 
 your Psyche." Having thus said, she showed 
 them the vast treasures of her golden palace, made 
 
32 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 their ears acquainted with the numerous retinue 
 of voices that were obedient to her commands, 
 and sumptuously refreshed them in a most beauti- 
 ful bath, and with the delicacies of a divine ban- 
 quet ; until, satiated with this copious abundance 
 of celestial riches, they began to nourish envy in 
 the lowest depths of their breasts. One of them, 
 especially, very minute and curious, persisted in 
 making inquiries about the master of this celestial 
 wealth, what kind of person and what sort of 
 husband he made. 
 
 Psyche, however, would by no means violate her 
 husband's injunctions, or disclose the secrets of 
 her breast ; but, devising a tale for the occasion, 
 told them that he was a young man, and very good 
 looking, with cheeks as yet only shaded with soft 
 down, and that he was, for the most part, engaged 
 in rural occupations, and hunting on the moun- 
 tains. And lest, by any slip in the course of the 
 protracted conversation, her secret counsels might 
 be betrayed, having loaded them with ornaments 
 of gold and jewelled necklaces, she called Zephyr, 
 and ordered him at once to convey them back 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 33 
 
 This being immediately executed, these modish 
 sisters, as they were returning home, now burning 
 more and more with the rancor of envy, con- 
 versed much with each other ; at last one of them 
 thus began: "Do but see how blind, cruel, and 
 unjust, Fortune has proved ! Were you, my sister, 
 delighted to find that we, born of the same parents, 
 had met with such a different lot ? We, indeed, who 
 are the elder, are delivered over as bondmaids l 
 to foreign husbands, and live in banishment from 
 our home, our native land, and our parents ; and 
 this, the youngest of us all, the last production of 
 our mother's exhausted powers, is raised to the 
 enjoyment of such boundless wealth, and has a 
 god for her husband, she who does not even know 
 how to enjoy, in a proper manner, such an abun- 
 dance of blessings. You saw, sister, what a vast 
 
 1 It was a prevalent notion with many of the ancients, that 
 the wife stood towards the husband in the relation of a bondmaid. 
 In reference to this notion, Isidore, in his Origines, informs 
 us, " One of the ceremonies of marriage anciently was this : 
 the husband and the wife purchased each other, in order that 
 the latter might not be considered as a servant." We reckon 
 this ancient custom is practised in our own day ; whether for 
 the same reason or not we leave the reader to ascertain. 
 
 3 
 
34 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 number of necklaces there were in the house, and 
 of what enormous value, what splendid dresses, 
 what brilliant gems, and what heaps of gold she 
 treads upon in every direction. If, besides all 
 this, she possesses a husband as handsome as she 
 asserts him to be, there lives not in the whole 
 world a happier woman than she. Perhaps, how- 
 ever, upon continued acquaintance, and when his 
 affection is strengthened, her husband, who is a 
 god, will make her a goddess as well. By Her- 
 cules ! it is so already ; she comported and de- 
 meaned herself just like one : the woman must 
 needs assume a lofty bearing, and give herself the 
 airs of a goddess, who has voices for her attend- 
 ants, and commands the very winds themselves. 
 But I, wretched creature, am tied to a husband 
 who, in the first place, is older than my father, 
 and who, in the next place, is balder than a pump- 
 kin, and more dwarfish than any boy, and who 
 fastens up every part of his house with bolts and 
 chains." 
 
 "But I," replied the other sister, "have got to 
 put up with a husband who is tormented and crip- 
 pled with gout, and who seldom rewards my 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 35 
 
 attention and love, while I have to be everlastingly- 
 rubbing his distorted and chalky fingers with filthy 
 fomentations, nasty rags, and outrageous poultices ; 
 scalding these delicate hands, and acting the part, 
 not of a wife, but of a female doctor. You, sister, 
 seem to bear all this with a patient, or rather a ser- 
 vile spirit, for I shall speak out fully what I think ; 
 but, for my part, I can no longer endure that such 
 a fortunate destiny should have so undeservedly 
 fallen to her lot. And then, recollect in what a 
 haughty and arrogant manner she behaved towards 
 us, and how, by her boasting and immoderate 
 ostentation, she betrayed a heart swelling with 
 pride, and how reluctantly she threw us a trifling 
 portion of her immense riches ; and immediately 
 after, being weary of our company, ordered us to 
 be turned out, and to be puffed and whisked away. 
 But may I be no woman, nor indeed may I 
 breathe, if I do not hurl her down headlong from 
 such mighty wealth. And if this contumely of- 
 fered to us stings you, too, as it ought, let us both 
 join in forming some effective plan. In the first 
 place, then, let us not show these things that we 
 have got, either to our parents or to any one else ; 
 
36 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 in fact ? we are to know nothing at all about her 
 safety. It is quite enough that we ourselves have 
 seen what it vexes us to have seen, without having 
 to spread the report of her good fortune among 
 our parents and all the people ; for, in fact, those 
 persons are not wealthy whose riches no one is 
 acquainted with. She shall know that in us she 
 has got no handmaids, but elder sisters. For the 
 present, then, let us away to our husbands, and 
 revisit our poor and plain dwellings, that, after 
 long and earnest consideration, we may return the 
 better prepared to humble her pride." 
 
 This evil intention against the good Psyche 
 was very satisfactory to her two wicked sisters. 
 Concealing those choice and sumptuous presents 
 which they had received from her, tearing their 
 hair, and beating their faces, which well de- 
 served such treatment, they redoubled their pre- 
 tended grief. In this manner, too, hastily leav- 
 ing their parents, after having set their sorrows 
 bleeding afresh, they returned to their homes, 
 swelling with malicious rage, and plotting wicked 
 schemes, nay, actual parricide, against their in- 
 nocent sister. 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 37 
 
 In the mean time, Psyche's unknown husband 
 once more admonished her thus in their noc- 
 turnal conversation : " Are you aware what a 
 mighty peril Fortune is preparing to launch 
 against you from a distance, one too, which, 
 unless you take strenuous precautions against it, 
 will ere long confront you hand to hand? Those 
 perfidious she-wolves are planning base strata- 
 gems against you with all their might, to the 
 end that they may prevail upon you to view 
 my features, which, as I have often told you, 
 if you once see, you will see no more. If, 
 then, those most abominable vampires come 
 again, armed with their baneful intentions, — and 
 that they will come I know full well, — do not 
 hold any converse whatever with them ; but 
 if, through your natural frankness and tender- 
 ness of disposition, you are not able to do this, 
 at all events, be careful not to listen to or an- 
 swer any inquiries about your husband. For 
 before long we shall have an increase to our 
 family ; and infantine as you are, you are preg- 
 nant with another infant, which, if you preserve 
 my secret in silence, will be born divine, but 
 if you profane it, will be mortal." 
 
38 THE BIRTH OE PLEASURE. 
 
 Radiant with joy at this news, Psyche exulted 
 in the glory of this future pledge of love, and 
 in the dignity of a mother's name. Anxiously 
 did she reckon the increasing tale of the days 
 and the elapsing months, and wondered, in sim- 
 ple ignorance, at the structure of this unknown 
 burden, and how her wealthy womb could have 
 gathered such an increase. 
 
 But now those pests and most dire Furies, 
 breathing viperous virulence, were hastening to- 
 wards her with the speed of ruthless hate. Then, 
 again, her husband warned his Psyche to this ef- 
 fect, during his brief visit : " The day of trial, and 
 this most utter calamity, are now at hand. Your 
 own malicious sex, and your own blood, in arms 
 against you, have struck their camp, drawn up 
 their forces in battle array, and sounded the 
 charge. Now are your wicked sisters aiming 
 with the drawn sword at your throat. Alas ! 
 darling Psyche, by what mighty dangers are we 
 now surrounded ! Take pity on yourself and on 
 me; and by an inviolable silence, rescue your 
 home, your husband, yourself, and that little 
 one of ours, from this impending destruction. 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 39 
 
 Shun those wicked women, whom, after the 
 deadly hatred which they have conceived against 
 you, and having trampled under foot the ties 
 of blood, it were not right to call sisters ; neither 
 see nor listen to them, when, like Sirens, hang- 
 ing over the crag, they shall make the rocks 
 resound with their ill-omened voices." 
 
 Psyche, in accents interrupted by sobs and 
 tears, thus replied: "Already, methinks, you 
 have experienced convincing proofs of my fidelity 
 and power of keeping a secret ; and the con- 
 stancy of my mind shall be no less approved 
 of by you in the present instance. Only order 
 Zephyr once again to discharge his duties, and 
 at least grant me a sight of my sisters, by way 
 of compensation for your own hallowed form. 
 By those aromatic locks, curling on every side ; 
 by those cheeks, tender, smooth, and so like my 
 own ; by your breast that glows with I know not 
 what a warmth ; and by my hopes that in this 
 babe, at least, I may recognize your features, I be- 
 seech you to comply with the affectionate prayers 
 of your anxious suppliant ; indulge me with the 
 gratification of embracing my sisters, and refresh 
 
40 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 with joyousness the soul of Psyche, who is so 
 devoted and so dear to you. Then no longer 
 I shall be anxious to view your features. Hence- 
 forth, not even the shades of night will have 
 any effect on me. I clasp you in my arms, 
 and you are my light." 
 
 Enchanted by these words, and by her hon- 
 eyed embraces, her husband brushed away her 
 tears with his locks, and assuring her that he 
 would do as she wished, instantly anticipated 
 the light of the dawning day by flight. But the 
 pair of sisters, who had engaged in this con- 
 spiracy, not having so much as visited their 
 parents, direct their course with precipitate haste 
 straight from the ships towards the rock, and 
 not waiting for the presence of the buoyant 
 breeze, leap into the abyss with ungovernable 
 rashness. Zephyr, however, not forgetful of the 
 royal commands, received them, though reluc- 
 tantly, in the bosom of the breathing breeze, 
 and laid them on the ground. 
 
 With rapid steps, and without a moment's de- 
 lay, they' entered the palace, and deceitfully 
 screening themselves under the name of sister, 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 41 
 
 embraced their prey ; then, covering a whole 
 storehouse of deeply-hidden treachery beneath 
 a joyous countenance, they thus addressed her 
 in flattering terms : " Psyche, you are not quite 
 so slender as you used to be. Why, you will 
 be a mother before long. Can you fancy what 
 delight you have in store for us in that reticule 
 of yours? With what exceeding joy you will 
 gladden our whole house ! O, how delighted we 
 shall be to nurse this golden baby ! for if it only 
 equals the beauty of its parents, it will be born 
 a perfect Cupid." 
 
 Thus, by a false appearance of affection, they 
 gradually stole upon the heart of their sister, 
 while she, after making them sit a while to 
 recover from the fatigue of their journey, and 
 refresh themselves with warm baths, regaled them 
 in a marvellously splendid manner with innu- 
 merable exquisite dainties. She bade the harp 
 discourse, and its chords were struck ; flutes to 
 play, and they were heard ; vocalists to sing in 
 concert, and they sang ; and though invisible, 
 they ravished the souls of the hearers with the 
 most delicious music. 
 
42 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 But the malice of those wicked women was 
 not lulled to rest or even softened by the dulcet 
 sweetness of the music ; but, shaping their con- 
 versation so as to lead Psyche into the intended 
 snare, they began insidiously to inquire what 
 sort of a person her husband was, and from 
 what family he was descended. She, in her 
 extreme simplicity, having forgotten her former 
 account, invented a new story about her husband, 
 and said he was a native of the adjoining prov- 
 ince ; that he was a merchant, with abundance 
 of money; a man of middle age, with a few 
 gray hairs sprinkled here and there on his head. 
 Then, abruptly terminating the conversation, she 
 again committed them to their windy vehicle, 
 after having loaded them with costly presents. 
 
FOURTH PART. 
 
 WHILE the sisters were returning home- 
 wards, soaring aloft on the tranquil breath 
 of Zephyrus, they thus interchanged their thoughts 
 with each other : w What are we to say, sister, 
 of the monstrous lies of that silly creature ? At 
 one time her husband is a young man, with the 
 down just beginning to show itself on his chin ; 
 at another, he is of middle age, and his hair 
 begins to be silvered with gray. Who can this 
 be, whom a short space of time thus suddenly 
 changes into an old man? You may depend 
 upon it, sister, that this most abominable woman 
 has either invented this lie to deceive us, or 
 else that she does not herself know what is the 
 appearance of her husband. But whichever of 
 these is the case, she must as soon as possible 
 
 (43) 
 
44 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 be deprived of these riclies. And yet, if she 
 really is ignorant of the appearance of her hus- 
 band, she must, no doubt, have married a god ; 
 and then, through this pregnancy of hers, she 
 will be presenting us with a god. At all events, 
 if she does happen — which heaven forbid — to 
 become the mother of a divine infant, I shall 
 instantly hang myself. Let us, therefore, in the 
 mean time return to our parents, and let us 
 devise some scheme, as nearly as possible in 
 accordance with the import of our present con- 
 versation." 
 
 The sisters, thus inflamed with passion, called 
 on their parents in a careless and disdainful 
 manner, and after being kept awake all night 
 by the turbulence of their spirits, made all haste 
 at morning to the rock, whence, by the usual 
 assistance of the breeze, they descended swiftly 
 to Psyche, and, with tears squeezed out by rub- 
 bing their eyelids, thus craftily addressed her: — 
 
 " Happy indeed are you, and fortunate in your 
 very ignorance of a misfortune of such magni- 
 tude. There you sit, without a thought upon your 
 danger; while we, who watch over your interests 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 45 
 
 with the most vigilant care, are in anguish at 
 your lost condition. For we have learned for a 
 truth, nor can we, as being sharers in your sor- 
 rows and misfortunes, conceal it from you, that 
 it is an enormous serpent, gliding along in many 
 folds and coils, with a neck swollen with deadly 
 venom, and prodigious gaping jaws, that secretly 
 sleeps with you by night. Do for a moment re- 
 call to mind the Pythian oracle, which declared 
 that you were destined to become the wife of a 
 fierce and truculent animal. Besides, many of 
 the husbandmen, who are in the habit of hunting 
 all round the country, and ever so many of the 
 neighbors, have observed him returning home 
 from his feeding-place in the evening, and swim- 
 ming across the shoals of the neighborina; stream. 
 All declare, too, that he will not long continue 
 to pamper you with delicacies, but that as soon 
 as ever your pregnancy shall have arrived at 
 maturity, he will devour you, as being in that 
 state a most exquisite morsel. Wherefore it is 
 now for you to consider whether you shall think 
 fit to listen to us, who are so anxious for your 
 precious safety, and avoiding death, live with us 
 
46 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 secure from danger, or be buried in the entrails 
 of a most savage monster. But if you are fasci- 
 nated by the vocal solitude of this country retreat, 
 or the charms of clandestine embraces so filthy 
 and perilous, and the endearments of a poisonous 
 serpent, we have, at all events, done our duty 
 towards you like affectionate sisters." 
 
 Poor simple, tender-hearted Psyche was aghast 
 with horror at this dreadful story ; and, quite 
 bereft of her senses, lost all remembrance of her 
 husband's admonitions and of her own promises, 
 and hurled herself headlong into the very abyss 
 of calamity. Trembling, therefore, with pale 
 and livid cheeks, and with an almost lifeless voice, 
 she faltered out these broken words : — 
 
 " Dearest sisters, you have acted towards me 
 as you ought, and with your usual affectionate 
 care ; and indeed it appears to me that those who 
 gave you this information have not invented a 
 falsehood. For, in fact, I have never yet beheld 
 my husband's face, nor do I know at all whence 
 he comes. I only hear him speak in an under- 
 tone by night, and have to bear with a husband 
 of an unknown appearance, and one that has an 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 47 
 
 utter aversion to the light of day : I consequently 
 have full reason to be of your opinion, that he 
 may be some monster or other. Besides, he is 
 always terrifying me from attempting to behold 
 him, and threatens some shocking misfortune as 
 the consequence of indulging any curiosity to 
 view his features. Now, therefore, if you are 
 able to give any saving aid to your sister in this 
 perilous emergency, defer it not for a moment." 
 Finding the approaches thus laid open, and 
 their sister's heart exposed all naked to their at- 
 tacks, these wicked women thought the time was 
 come to sally out from their covered approach, 
 and attack the timorous thoughts of the simple 
 girl with the drawn sword of deceit. Accordingly, 
 one of them thus began : " Since the ties of blood 
 oblige us to have no fear of peril before our eyes 
 when your safety is to be insured, we will dis- 
 cover to you the only method which will lead to 
 your preservation, and one which has been con- 
 sidered by us over and over again. On that side 
 of the bed where you are accustomed to lie, 
 secretly conceal a very sharp razor, one that you 
 have whetted to a keen edge by passing it over 
 
48 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 the palm of your hand ; and hide likewise under 
 some covering of the surrounding tapestry a 
 lamp, well trimmed and full of oil, and shining 
 with a bright light. Make these preparations 
 with the utmost secrecy, and after the monster 
 has glided into the bed as usual, when he is now 
 stretched out at length, fast asleep, and breathing 
 heavily, then slide out of bed, go softly along 
 with bare feet and on tiptoe, free the lamp from 
 its place of concealment in the dark, and borrow 
 the aid of its light to execute your noble purpose ; 
 then at once, boldly raising your right hand, 
 bring down the keen weapon with all your might, 
 and cut off the head of the noxious serpent at 
 the nape of the neck. Nor shall our assistance 
 be wanting to you ; for we will keep anxious 
 watch, and be with you the very instant you shall 
 have effected your own safety by his death ; and 
 then, immediately bringing you away with all 
 these things, we will wed you, to your wish, with 
 a human creature like yourself." 
 
 Having with such pernicious language inflamed 
 the mind of their sister, and wrought her to a 
 perfect pitch of determination, they deserted her, 
 
THE STOEY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 49 
 
 fearing exceedingly even to be in the neighbor- 
 hood of such a catastrophe ; and, being laid upon 
 the rock by the wonted impulse of their winged 
 bearer, they immediately hurried thence with im- 
 petuous haste, at once got on board their ships, 
 and sailed away. 
 
 But Psyche, now left alone, except so far as 
 a person who is agitated by maddening Furies 
 is not alone, fluctuated in sorrow like a stormy 
 sea ; and though her purpose was fixed, and her 
 heart was resolute when she first began to make 
 preparations for the impious work, her mind now 
 wavers, and is distracted with numerous appre- 
 hensions at her unhappy fate. She hurries, she 
 procrastinates ; now she is bold, now tremulous ; 
 now dubious, now agitated by rage ; and what is 
 the most singular thing of all, in the same being 
 she hates the lieast, — loves the husband. Never- 
 theless, as the evening drew to a close, she 
 hurriedly prepared the instruments of her ruth- 
 less enterprise. 
 
 The night came, and with it came her husband ; 
 and after the excitement of his presence was 
 over, he fell into a deep sleep. Then Psyche, 
 
50 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 to whose weak body and spirit the cruel influence 
 of fate imparted unusual strength, uncovered the 
 lamp, and seized the knife with masculine courage. 
 But the instant she advanced the lamp, and the 
 mysteries of the couch stood revealed, she be- 
 held the very gentlest and sweetest of all wild 
 creatures, even Cupid himself, the beautiful God 
 of Love, there fast asleep ; at sight of whom, 
 the joyous flame of the lamp shone with re- 
 doubled vigor, and the sacrilegious razor repented 
 the keenness of its edge. 
 
 But as for Psyche, astounded at such a sight, 
 losing the control of her senses, faint, deadly 
 pale, and trembling all over, she fell on her 
 knees, and made an attempt to hide the blade in 
 her own bosom ; and this, no doubt, she would 
 have done, had not the blade, dreading the com- 
 mission of such a crime, glided out of her rash 
 hand. And now, faint and unnerved as she was, 
 she felt herself refreshed at heart by gazing 
 upon the beauty of those divine features. She 
 looked upon the genial locks of. his golden head, 
 teeming with ambrosial perfume, the orbed curls 
 that strayed over his milk-white neck and roseate 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 51 
 
 cheeks, and fell gracefully entangled, some before, 
 some behind ; causing the very light of the lamp 
 itself to flicker by their radiant splendor. On 
 the shoulders of the volatile god were dewy wings 
 of brilliant whiteness ; and though the pinions 
 were at rest, yet the tender down that fringed 
 the feathers wantoned to and fro in tremulous, 
 unceasing play. The rest of his body was smooth 
 and beautiful, and such as Venus could not have 
 repented of giving birth to. At the foot of the 
 bed lay his bow, his quiver, and his arrows, the 
 auspicious weapons of the mighty god. 
 
 While, with insatiable wonder and curiosity, 
 Psyche is examining and admiring her husband's 
 weapons, she draws one of the arrows out of 
 the quiver, and touches the point with the tip 
 of her thumb to try its sharpness ; but, hap- 
 pening to press too hard, — for her hand still 
 trembled, — she punctured the skin, so that some 
 tiny drops of rosy blood oozed forth ; and thus 
 did Psyche, without knowing it, fall in love 
 with Love. Then, burning more and more with 
 desire for Cupid, gazing passionately on his face, 
 
52 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 and fondly kissing him again and again, her 
 only fear was lest he should wake too soon. 
 
 But while she hung over him, bewildered with 
 delight so extreme at heart, the lamp, whether 
 from treachery or baneful envy, or because it 
 longed to touch, and to kiss, as it were, such 
 a beautiful object, spirted a drop of scalding oil 
 from the summit of its flame upon the right 
 shoulder of the god. The god, thus burned, 
 sprang from the bed, and, seeing the disgraceful 
 tokens of forfeited fidelity, without a word, van- 
 ished from the eyes and arms of his most un- 
 happy wife. But Psyche, the instant he arose, 
 seized hold of his right leg with both hands, 
 and hung on to him, a wretched appendage to 
 his flight through the regions of the air, till at 
 last her strength failed her, and she fell to the 
 earth. 
 
FIFTH PAET, 
 
 HER divine lover, however, not deserting 
 her as she lay on the ground, alighted 
 upon a neighboring cypress tree, and thus an- 
 grily addressed her from its lofty top : " O 
 simple, simple Psyche, for you I have been un- 
 mindful of the commands of my mother, Venus ; 
 for when she bade me cause you to be infatuated 
 with passion for some base and abject man, I 
 chose rather to fly to you myself as a lover. 
 That in this I acted inconsiderately I know but 
 too well. I, that redoubtable archer, have 
 wounded myself with my own arrow, and have 
 made you my wife, that I, forsooth, might be 
 thought by you to be a serpent, and that you 
 might cut off my head, which bears those very 
 eyes which have so doted upon you. This 
 
 (53) 
 
54 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 was the danger that I told you again and again 
 to be on your guard against ; this was what I 
 so benevolently forewarned you of. But, as for 
 those choice counsellors of yours, they shall 
 speedily feel my vengeance for giving you such 
 pernicious advice ; but you I will punish only 
 by my flight." And, so saying, he soared aloft, 
 and flew away. 
 
 Meanwhile Psyche lay prostrate on the ground, 
 gazing on the flight of her husband as long as 
 ever he remained in sight, afflicting her mind 
 with the most bitter lamentations. But when 
 the reiterated movement 1 of his wings had borne 
 her husband through the immensity of space till 
 she saw him no more, she threw herself head- 
 long from the bank of the adjacent river into 
 its stream. But the gentle river, honoring the 
 god, who is in the habit of imparting his warmth 
 to the waters 2 themselves, and fearing his power, 
 
 1 In the original, "remigio." " Remigium alarum" — the 
 rowing of the wings — is a phrase much used by the classical 
 writers. 
 
 2 That is to say, to the deities and nymphs who inhabit 
 them — not to mention the fish. 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 55 
 
 bore her on the surface of a harmless wave to 
 the bank, and laid her safe on its flowery turf. 
 It chanced that just then the rural god Pan 
 was seated on the margin of the river, embracing 
 the goddess Canna, 1 and teaching her to sing all 
 kinds of pleasant ditties. Close by, some she- 
 goats gambolled as they browsed along the grassy 
 bank. The goat-legged god, aware of Psyche's 
 misfortune, kindly called the fainting, heart- 
 stricken girl to him, and thus comforted her in 
 soothing language : "Pretty damsel, though I am 
 a countryman and a shepherd, still, through the 
 benefit of a prolonged old age, I have acquired 
 considerable experience : wherefore, if I rightly 
 conjecture, — a thing that wise men, no doubt, 
 consider as good as the power of divination, — 
 if I rightly conjecture, from those tottering and 
 repeatedly faltering steps, from the excessive pale- 
 ness of your countenance, from your frequent 
 sighs, and from the sad expression of your eyes, 
 you are desperately in love. Listen, then, to 
 
 1 This alludes to the well-known fable of Syrinx and Pan. 
 Canna is the Latin for "cane " or " reed." 
 
56 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 me : attempt no more to put an end to yourself 
 by leaping from a precipice, or by any kind of 
 self-inflicted death ; cease to grieve, lay aside 
 your sorrow, and rather in your prayers worship 
 Cupid, the greatest of the gods, and, as he is a 
 delicate and spoiled stripling, use your best en- 
 deavors to please him by soft obsequiousness 
 and soothing attentions." 
 
 The shepherd god having thus said, Psyche 
 made him no reply, but simply paying her hom- 
 age to the propitious divinity, departed from the 
 spot. After she had toiled some little way along 
 the road, she came at last to an unknown by- 
 path, and, following it, she arrived at a certain 
 city, of which the husband of one of her sisters 
 was king. On learning this circumstance, Psyche 
 requested that her arrival might be announced to 
 her sister. Being immediately conducted to her, 
 when they had mutually embraced, and the forms 
 of salutation were over, on her sister inquiring 
 the cause of her visit, she replied, — 
 
 " Of course you remember the advice you gave 
 me, when you persuaded me to destroy with a 
 sharp razor the beast that lay with me under the 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AXD PSYCHE. 57 
 
 assumed name of a husband, before lie should swal- 
 low me, poor creature, in his voracious maw. I 
 proceeded to do as we had arranged ; but as soon 
 as ever I discerned his features by the light of 
 the lamp, I beheld a sight truly wonderful and 
 divine — the very son himself of the goddess Ve- 
 nus, Cupid, I say, sunk in tranquil repose. Just, 
 however, as, struck with astonishment at the sight 
 of such a boundless blessing, and in utter ecstasy 
 through an over-abundance of pleasure, I was at 
 a loss how sufficiently to enjoy my fortune, by a 
 most shocking accident the lamp spirted out some 
 scalding oil upon his right shoulder. Instantly 
 awakened by the pain, and seeing me armed with 
 the weapon and the light, ? For this shameful con- 
 duct,' said he, ? quit my bed this instant I di- 
 vorce you forever. I w T ill at once marry your 
 sister,' — mentioning you expressly by name ; 
 and then he ordered Zephyr to waft me beyond 
 the precincts of the palace." 
 
 Scarcely had Psyche ended her narrative, when 
 the other, goaded by maddening lust and baneful 
 envy, deceived her husband by a story which she 
 had ready invented, as though she had heard 
 
58 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 something about the death of her parents, and, 
 immediately embarking, proceeded to the same 
 rock. When she arrived there, though another 
 wind was blowing, yet, elated with blind hope, 
 she exclaimed, " Receive me, Cupid, a wife wor- 
 thy of thee; and thou, Zephyr, acknowledge thy 
 mistress." Then, with a great bound, she threw 
 herself headlong from the mountain ; but neither 
 alive nor dead was she able to reach the spot 
 she sought. For her limbs were torn in pieces 
 by the crags, and scattered here and there as 
 she fell ; her entrails were rent asunder, just as 
 she deserved ; and so furnishing a banquet for 
 birds and beasts of prey, she perished. 
 
 Nor was the other sister's punishment long 
 delayed, for Psyche's wandering steps led her to 
 another city, in which that sister dwelt ; and she, 
 also, deceived by the same tale, and impiously 
 desirous of supplanting Psyche as a wife, hastened 
 to the rock, and there met with her death in a 
 similar manner. 
 
SIXTH PAET 
 
 IN the mean time, while Psyche wandered 
 through various nations, anxiously searching 
 for Cupid, he himself was confined to his mother's 
 bed by the anguish of the fatal lamp. A snow- 
 white sea-gull, the bird which skims along the 
 waves of the sea, flapping them with its wings, 
 dived down into the bosom of the ocean. There, 
 approaching Venus, as she bathed and swam, he 
 informed her that her son was confined to his bed 
 by a severe burn, was in great pain, and his cure 
 was doubtful ; that all sorts of scandalous reports 
 were flying about concerning the whole family 
 of Venus ; and it was in everybody's mouth 
 that mother and son had gone off, the one to a 
 mountain to carry on an intrigue with a girl, 
 the other to amuse herself with swimming 
 
 (59) 
 
60 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 in the sea. In consequence of all this, Pleasure, 
 Grace, and Elegance were no longer to be found, 
 but everything was rude, rustic, and slovenly ; 
 nuptial ties, social friendships, and love of 
 children, existed no more ; but unbounded dis- 
 order, and a bitter loathing of sordid alliances. 
 Thus did this talkative and very meddling bird 
 chatter in the ear of Venus, to lower her son 
 in her estimation. 
 
 Venus, exceedingly enraged, instantly ex- 
 claimed, " So, then, this hopeful son of mine has 
 already got some mistress or other. Come, now, 
 you who are the only one to serve me with true 
 affection, what is the name of her who has thus 
 decoyed the ingenuous and beardless boy ? Is she 
 one of the tribe of Nymphs, or of the number of 
 the Hours, or of the choir of the Muses, or belong- 
 ing to my own train of Graces?" 
 
 The talkative bird was only too ready to reply, 
 "I am not quite sure, mistress. I think, though, 
 if I remember right, he is said to have fallen 
 desperately in love with a girl whose name is 
 Psyche." 
 
 "What!" exclaimed Venus, in a burst of 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 61 
 
 indignation ; w of all wenches in the world, is he 
 in love with Psyche, the usurper of my beauty 
 and the rival of my fame? And by way of 
 additional insult, he takes me for a go-between, 
 through whose instrumentality he made acquaint- 
 ance with the girl." 
 
 Thus exclaiming, she forthwith emerged from 
 the sea, and hastened to her golden chamber, 
 where finding her son lying ill, as she had been 
 informed, she exclaimed as loud as she could, 
 before she entered the door, w This is pretty 
 conduct, indeed ! and very becoming our digni- 
 fied birth, and your sobriety of character. In 
 the first place, to trample under foot the com- 
 mands of your mother, your sovereign mistress, 
 and refrain from tormenting my enemy with an 
 ignoble love ; and then, at your age, a mere boy, 
 to take her to your profligate and immature 
 embraces, on purpose, I suppose, that I might 
 endure the vexation of having my enemy for my 
 daughter-in-law. But doubtless you suppose, 
 you scamp, you wretch, you unlovable boy, 
 that you are my only high-born son, and that I 
 am too old to have another. I would have you 
 
62 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 know, then, that I will have another son, a much 
 better one than you; nay, what's more, that 
 you may be fully sensible of the disgrace, I will 
 adopt one of the sons of my slaves, and to him 
 will I give those wings and that torch, that bow 
 and those arrows, and all that equipment which 
 I bestowed on you for purposes very different 
 from these ; for no part whatever of this appara- 
 tus was supplied at your father's expense. But 
 from your very childhood, you have been badly 
 inclined, and have always had pugnacious hands. 
 Many a time, too, have you most disrespectfully 
 struck your elders ; and even myself, your 
 mother, myself, I say, you parricide, you are 
 everyday exposing before the world. Many a 
 time you have struck me, and you pay no more 
 attention to me than if I were a widow ; you 
 do not even fear your step-father, that most brave 
 and mighty warrior ; quite the contrary, indeed, 
 for you are evermore setting him after the 
 maidens, to my torment. But I will make you 
 repent of these tricks of yours, and you shall find 
 this match a sour and bitter one. 
 
 "But now, made a laughing-stock of, what 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 63 
 
 shall I do? Whither betake myself? How shall 
 I coerce this slippery little lizard ? Shall I solicit 
 the assistance of my old foe, Sobriety, whom 
 I have so often affronted for the sake of this 
 spoiled boy ? Must I have intercourse with that 
 coarse, vulgar being? I shudcier at the thought; 
 and yet the comfort of revenge is not to be 
 despised, come whence it may. I must have 
 recourse, then, to her, and to her alone, that she 
 may most soundly chastise this scamp. She shall 
 rifle his quiver, blunt his arrows, unstring his 
 bow, extinguish his torch, ay, and keep his 
 body in order by the sharpest remedies. When 
 I shall have shorn off those golden locks which 
 these hands have so often sorted, and have clipped 
 off those pinions which I have dyed in my 
 bosom's nectareous fountain, then, and not till 
 then, I shall believe that atonement has been 
 made for the injury I have received." 
 
 Having thus vented her wrath, she rushed im- 
 petuously out of doors, and was immediately ac- 
 costed by Ceres and Juno, who, observing her 
 angry countenance, asked her why she marred 
 the beauty of her sparkling eyes by such a sullen 
 
64 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 frown. " Most opportunely are you come," she 
 replied, " to appease that violence which has taken 
 possession of my raging bosom. Inquire for me, 
 I beg, with the utmost care and diligence, after 
 that runaway vagabond, Psyche ; for the infa- 
 mous stories about my family, and the conduct 
 of my son, who does not deserve to be named, 
 cannot be unknown to you." 
 
 The two goddesses, knowing what had hap- 
 pened, thus endeavored to mitigate the rage of 
 Venus: "What mighty offence, good mistress, 
 has your son committed, that you should thwart 
 his pleasures with such stubborn resolution, and 
 be impatient to destroy her with whom he is in 
 love? Is it a crime if he has freely indulged 
 his liking for a pretty girl? Are you ignorant 
 of his sex and his youth? Surely you have 
 forgotten how many years old he is ; or is it be- 
 cause he carries his years so prettily, that you 
 would forever fancy him a boy? Is it possible 
 that you, who are his mother, and a woman of 
 understanding, can persist in prying inquisitively 
 into the gayeties of your handsome son, finding 
 fault with his indiscretions, taking him to task 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 65 
 
 for his amours, and reproving in him your own 
 arts and voluptuous suggestions? But what god 
 or what man will bear with you, when you are 
 everywhere scattering amorous desires among 
 people, and at the same time would restrain the 
 gallantries of your own house, and shut up the 
 universal magazine of female frailties ? " 
 
 Thus did they, through fear of his darts, flat- 
 ter and graciously defend Cupid in his absence. 
 But Venus, indignant that her injuries were thus 
 treated with ridicule, turned her back upon them, 
 and with hasty steps again betook herself to the 
 ocean. 
 
 5 
 
SEVENTH PART. 
 
 PSYCHE, in the mean while, wandered about, 
 day and night, restlessly seeking her hus- 
 band, and the more anxious to find him, because, 
 though she had incurred his anger, she hoped 
 to appease him, if not by the tender endearments 
 of a wife, at least by entreaties as humble as a 
 slave could urge. Perceiving a temple on the 
 summit of a lofty mountain, "How can I tell," 
 said she, "but yonder may be the residence of 
 my lord ? " and immediately she hastened thither, 
 while, wayworn and exhausted as she was, hope 
 and affection quickened her steps, and gave her 
 vigor to climb the highest ridges of the mountain, 
 and enter the temple. There she saw blades of 
 wheat, some in sheaves, some twisted into chap- 
 lets, and ears of barley also. There were scythes 
 
 (66) 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 67 
 
 likewise, and the implements of harvest, but 
 all lying scattered about in confusion, just as 
 such things are usually thrown down, in the 
 heat of summer, from the careless hands of the 
 reapers. 
 
 Psyche began carefully to sort all these things, 
 and arrange them properly in their several 
 places, deeming it her duty not to fail in respect 
 for the temples and ceremonies of any deity, 
 but to implore the benevolent sympathy of all 
 the gods. Bounteous Ceres found her thus 
 diligently employed in her temple, and cried to 
 her, from a distance, "Ah, poor, unfortunate 
 Psyche ! Venus, full of rage, is eagerly track- 
 ing your footsteps, craving to inflict upon you 
 the deadly penalties and the whole force of her 
 divine vengeance. And can you, then, busy 
 yourself with my concerns, and think of any- 
 thing else but your own safety?" 
 
 Psyche, prostrating herself before the goddess, 
 moistening her feet with abundant tears, and 
 sweeping the ground with her locks, besought 
 her protection with manifold prayers. "I im- 
 plore thee," said she, "by thy fruit-bearing right 
 
68 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 hand, by the joyful ceremonies of harvest, by 
 the mysterious rites of thy cists, 1 by the winged 
 car of the dragons thy servants, by the furrows 
 of the Sicilian soil, by the chariot of the ravisher, 2 
 by the earth that closed upon him, by the dark 
 descent and unlighted nuptials of Proserpine, 
 by the torch-illumined return of thy recovered 
 daughter, and by the other mysteries which 
 Eleusis, the sanctuary of Attica, conceals in 
 silence, — succor, O, succor the life of the 
 wretched Psyche, thy suppliant ! Suffer me, 
 if for a few days only, to conceal myself in that 
 heap of wheat-sheaves, till the raging anger of 
 the mighty goddess be mitigated by the lapse of 
 time ; or at least until my bodily powers, weak- 
 ened by long-continued labor, be renewed by 
 an interval of rest." 
 
 1 In the processions of Ceres, at Athens, were carried 
 chests or baskets, made of osier, enclosing mystic images 
 of the deity, which it was not lawful for any uninitiated person 
 to look upon. 
 
 2 The chariot of Pluto, in which he carried off Proserpine 
 from the plains of Erma, in Sicily, and descended through a 
 chasm of the earth to the shades below. 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID ANT> PSYCHE. 69 
 
 "I am touched by your tears and entreaties," 
 Ceres replied, " and own a desire to render you 
 assistance ; but I cannot provoke the displeasure 
 of my relative, to whom I am also united by 
 ties of friendship of old date, and who, besides, 
 is a very worthy lady. Depart, therefore, from 
 this temple directly, and be very thankful that 
 I do not seize and detain you as a prisoner." 
 
 Psyche, thus repulsed, contrary to her ex- 
 pectations, and afflicted with twofold grief, re- 
 traced the way she came, and presently espied, 
 in a gloomy grove of the valley below the moun- 
 tain, a temple of exquisite structure. Unwilling 
 to omit any chance of better fortune, though 
 ever so remote, but resolving rather to implore 
 the protection of the god, whoever he might 
 be, she approached the sacred doors. There 
 she beheld splendid offerings, and garments em- 
 broidered with golden letters, fastened to the 
 branches of trees and to the door-posts of the 
 temple, upon which was recorded the name of 
 the goddess to whom they had been dedicated, 
 and also the particulars of the favor received. 
 
 Then Psyche fell upon her knees, and with 
 
70 THE BIKTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 her hands embracing the yet warm altar, having 
 first wiped away her tears, she thus offered up 
 a prayer : " O sister and consort of mighty 
 Jove ! whether thou dost inhabit the ancient 
 temples of Samos, 1 which glories in thy birth, 
 thy complaining infancy, and thy nurture ; or 
 whether thou dost frequent the happy mansions 
 of lofty Carthage, which adores thee as a vir- 
 gin, passing through the heavens in a car drawn 
 by lions ; or dost preside over the renowned walls 
 of the Argives, near the banks of Inachus, where 
 thou art celebrated as the spouse of the Thun- 
 derer, and the Queen of the Gods ; thou whom 
 all the East venerates under the name of Zygia, 2 
 and all the West denominates Lucina ! be thou, 
 Juno Sospita, a protectress to me in these my 
 overwhelming misfortunes, and deliver me, worn 
 out with long sufferings, from the fear of my 
 
 1 The goddess Juno was especially worshipped in the Island 
 of Samos and the city of Carthage. The Samians boasted 
 that she was born in that island, near the River Imbrasus, 
 whence she was called Imbrasia. 
 
 2 Juno was so called from £v y6$, a " yoke," as presiding 
 over the rites of wedlock. 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 71 
 
 impending danger; for I know that thou art 
 accustomed readily to succor pregnant women 
 in time of peril." 
 
 While Psyche thus prayed, Juno appeared 
 before her in all the august majesty of her 
 divinity, and said, " How readily would I lend 
 an ear to your entreaties ! but propriety will not 
 permit me to act contrary to the wishes of Venus, 
 my daughter-in-law, 1 whom I have always loved 
 as my own child. Then, besides, the laws forbid 
 me to receive into my protection any fugitive 
 servant without the consent of her mistress." 
 
 Dismayed by this second shipwreck of her 
 fortunes, and being no longer able to make search 
 for her volatile husband, Psyche gave up all 
 hopes of safety, and thus reasoned with herself: 
 "What other relief for my sorrows can now be 
 looked for or procured, since even goddesses can- 
 not, though willing, aiFord me any assistance? 
 In what direction shall I once more bend my 
 wandering steps, entangled, as I am, in snares 
 so inextricable? Concealed in what habitations, 
 
 1 Venus being the wife of Vulcan, the son of Juno. 
 
72 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 in what darkness even, can I escape the ever- 
 vigilant eyes of the mighty Venus? Assume, 
 then, a masculine courage, my soul ; boldly re- 
 nounce vain hopes, voluntarily surrender yourself 
 into the hands of your mistress, and try, though 
 late, to soften her rage by submissive behavior. 
 Besides, who knows whether you may not per- 
 haps find in his mother's house him whom you 
 have been so long seeking in vain." Thus pre- 
 pared for this doubtful experiment of duty, or 
 rather for certain destruction, she considered with 
 herself how she was to preface her entreaties. 
 
EIGHTH PAET. 
 
 VENUS, meanwhile, declining to employ 
 earthly means in pursuing her inquiries 
 after Psyche, returned to heaven. She ordered 
 the chariot to be got ready, which Vulcan had 
 constructed with exquisite skill, and presented 
 to her before the celebration of her marriage. 
 The nuptial gift was of burnished gold, and was 
 even the more precious through the diminution 
 of its material by the file. 1 Four white doves, 
 out of the many that nestled about the chamber 
 of their mistress, advanced with joyous flutterings, 
 and, bending their painted necks to the jewelled 
 yoke, flew forward with the chariot that con- 
 tained the goddess. Around it wantoned chat- 
 
 1 That is to say, the loss of the precious material was more 
 than compensated by the value of the workmanship. Mate- 
 riam super abat opus. (73) 
 
74 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 tering sparrows, and other birds of sweet note, 
 which announced the approach of Venus in melo- 
 dious strains. 
 
 And now the clouds dispersed, heaven unfolded 
 itself before its daughter, and the highest sky 
 received the goddess with joy ; nor did the tuneful 
 retinue of Venus dread the attack of eagles or 
 rapacious hawks. She went straightway to the 
 royal citadel of Jove, and with a haughty air 
 demanded, as especially necessary, the services of 
 the crier god ; nor did the azure brow of Jupiter 
 refuse its assent. 
 
 Then Venus, accompanied by Mercury, imme- 
 diately descended from heaven, and as they passed 
 along she addressed him thus anxiously : " My 
 Arcadian brother, you well know that your sister, 
 Venus, never did anything without the presence 
 of Mercury; nor are you ignorant how long I 
 have been unable to find my absconded female 
 slave. Nothing remains, therefore, to be done, 
 but for you to proclaim her in public, and an- 
 nounce a reward to him who shall find her. 
 Take care, therefore, that my commands are 
 speedily executed, and clearly describe the marks 
 
THE STOKY OF CUPID AXD PSYCHE. 75 
 
 by which she may be recognized, that no one 
 may excuse himself on the plea of ignorance, if 
 he incurs the crime of unlawfully concealing her." 
 
 So saying, she gave him a little scroll, on 
 which were written Psyche's name, and sundry 
 particulars. This done, she immediately returned 
 home. Nor did Mercury neglect her commands ; 
 for going about among all nations, he thus per- 
 formed his duties as crier : — 
 
 " If any one can seize in her flight, and bring 
 back, a fugitive daughter of a king, a handmaid 
 of Venus, and by name Psyche, or discover where 
 she has concealed herself, let such person repair 
 to Mercury, the crier, behind the boundaries of 
 Murtia, 1 and receive, by way of reward for the 
 
 1 The spot here mentioned was at the back of the temple 
 Venus Murtia, or guardian of the myrtle, which was built 
 on Mount Aventine, at Rome. In the first idyl of Moschus, 
 Venus thus proclaims the reward for her fugitive child : — 
 
 M On him who the haunts of my Cupid can show 
 A kiss of the tenderest stamp I'll bestow; 
 But he who can bring me the wanderer here 
 Shall have something more rapturous, something more 
 dear." 
 
 This " something more " is the quicquid post oscula dulce 
 of Secundus. 
 
76 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 discovery, seven sweet kisses from Venus herself, 
 and one exquisitely delicious touch of her charm- 
 ing tongue." 
 
 Mercury having thus made proclamation, the 
 desire of obtaining such a reward excited the 
 emulous endeavors of all mankind ; and this cir- 
 cumstance it was that quite put an end to all 
 Psyche's hesitation. She was already near her 
 mistress's gates, when she was met by one of 
 the retinue of Venus, whose name was Habit, 
 and who immediately cried out as loud as she 
 could bawl, " So, you most good for nothing 
 creature, have you at last begun to discover 
 that you have a mistress ? And do you pretend, 
 too, in your abundant assurance, that you don't 
 know what immense trouble we have had in 
 endeavoring to find you out? But it is well 
 that you have fallen into my hands, of all others, 
 and have got within the very jaws of Orcus, to 
 receive, without delay, the penalty of such obsti- 
 nate' contumacy." 
 
 So saying, she instantly twisted her hands in 
 Psyche's hair, and dragged the unresisting cap- 
 tive along. But Venus, the moment she was 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 77 
 
 dragged into her presence, burst into a loud 
 laugh, such as people laugh who are furiously 
 angry; and shaking her head and rubbing her 
 right ear, 1 "At length," said she, "have you 
 deigned to pay your respects to your mother- 
 in-law? Or, rather, are you come to see your 
 sick husband, who is yet dangerously ill from 
 the wound you gave him? But make yourself 
 easy ; for I shall at once give you a reception 
 such as a good mother-in-law ought to give. 
 Where," she cried, "are those servants of mine, 
 Anxiety and Sorrow?" These attending at 
 her call, she delivered her to them to be tor- 
 mented. Thereupon, in obedience to the com- 
 mands of their mistress, they scourged and 
 inflicted other torments on the wretched Psyche, 
 and, after they had tortured her, brought her 
 back again into the presence of Venus. 
 
 "Just look at her!" said Venus, again setting- 
 up a laugh ; " her interesting state quite moves 
 my compassion, since it is through that, forsooth, 
 that she is to make me a happy grandmother. 
 
 1 According to Pliny, the throne of Nemesis, the goddess 
 of revenge, is behind the right ear. 
 
78 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 Fortunate, indeed, am I, who, in the very flower 
 of my age, am to be called a grandmother ! And 
 the son of a vile handmaid is to hear himself 
 called the grandson of Venus ! And yet I talk 
 nonsense in calling him my grandson ; for ill- 
 assorted marriages, contracted, too, in a country 
 place, without any witnesses, and without the 
 father's consent, cannot possibly be deemed legit- 
 imate ; consequently this child will be a bastard, 
 even if I do suffer you to bring it into the light 
 at all." 
 
 Having thus spoken, she flew upon her, tore 
 her clothes in a great many places, pulled out 
 her hair, shook her by the head, and grievously 
 maltreated her. Then, taking wheat, barley, 
 millet, poppy, vetches, lentils, and beans, and 
 mixing them all together in one heap, she said 
 to her, "You seem to me, such an ugly slave as 
 you now are, to be likely to gain lovers in no 
 other way than by diligent drudgery. I will, 
 therefore, myself, for once, make trial of your 
 industrious habits. Take and separate this pro- 
 miscuous mass of seeds, and having properly 
 placed each grain in its place, and so sorted the 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 79 
 
 whole, give me a proof of your expedition by- 
 finishing the task before evening." 
 
 Then, having delivered over to her the vast 
 heap of seeds, she at once took her departure for 
 a nuptial banquet. But Psyche, astounded at 
 the stupendous task, sat silent and stupefied, and 
 did not move a hand to the confused and inex- 
 tricable mass. 
 
 Just then, a tiny little ant, one of the inhab- 
 itants of the fields, became aware of this prodi- 
 gious difficulty ; and pitying the distress of the 
 partner of the mighty god, and execrating the 
 mother-in-law's cruelty, it ran busily about, and 
 summoned together the whole tribe of ants in the 
 neighborhood, crying to them, "Take pity on 
 her, ye active children of the all-producing earth ! 
 Take pity, and make haste to help the wife of 
 Love, a pretty damsel, who is now in a perilous 
 situation." 
 
 Immediately the six-footed people came rushing 
 in whole waves, one upon another, and with the 
 greatest diligence separated the whole heap, grain 
 by grain ; then, having assorted the various kinds 
 into different heaps, they vanished out of sight. 
 
80 THE BIRTH OE PLEASURE. 
 
 At nightfall, Venus returned home from the 
 nuptial banquet, exhilarated with wine, fragrant 
 with balsams, and having her waist encircled with 
 blooming roses. As soon as she saw with what 
 marvellous expedition the task had been executed, 
 "This is no work of your hands, wicked crea- 
 ture," she said, "but his whom you have charmed, 
 to your own sorrow and his ; " and, throwing 
 her a piece of coarse bread, she retired. 
 
 Meanwhile, Cupid was closely confined in his 
 chamber, partly that he might not inflame his 
 wound by fro ward indulgence, and partly lest 
 he should associate with his beloved. The lov- 
 ers, thus separated from each other under one 
 roof, passed a miserable night. But as soon 
 as Aurora had ushered in the morning, Venus 
 called Psyche, and thus addressed her: "Do you 
 see yonder grove, stretching along the margin of 
 a river, whose deep eddies receive the waters of 
 a neighboring fountain? There shining sheep 
 of a golden color wander about, feeding without 
 a shepherd. I desire that you bring me imme- 
 diately a flock of that precious wool, get it how 
 you may." 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 81 
 
 Psyche willingly set out, not with any inten- 
 tion of executing this command, but to procure 
 rest from her misfortunes by hurling herself 
 headlong from the rock into the river. But 
 when she came to the brink, a green reed, the 
 nurse of sweet music, 1 divinely inspired by a 
 gentle breath of air, thus prophetically mur- 
 mured : "Psyche! exercised in mighty sorrows, 
 neither pollute my sacred waters by your most 
 miserable death, nor venture yet to approach 
 the formidable sheep on the opposite bank. 
 While heated by the burning radiance of the 
 sun, they are transported with savage rage, 
 and are the destruction of mortals, either by 
 their sharp horns, their stony foreheads, or their 
 venomous bites. Therefore, until the sun has 
 declined from the meridian, and the serene 
 spirit of the flood has lulled the animals to rest, 
 you may hide yourself under yonder lofty plane 
 tree, which drinks of the same river with my- 
 self; and as soon as the sheep have mitigated 
 their fury, if you shake the branches of the 
 
 1 So called because the pipe of Pan was formed of reeds 
 joined together. 
 
 6 
 
82 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 neighboring grove, you will find the woolly gold 
 every where sticking to them." Thus the artless 
 and humane reed taught the wretched Psyche 
 how to accomplish this dangerous enterprise 
 with safety. 
 
 Psyche, therefore, observing all the directions, 
 found her obedience was not in vain, but returned 
 to Venus with her bosom full 1 of the delicate 
 golden fleece. Yet she was not able to win 
 the approbation of her mistress by this her 
 second perilous labor. But Venus, smiling bit- 
 terly with knitted brows, thus addressed her : 
 "I do not fail to perceive another's hand in the 
 performance of this task also ; but I will now 
 try whether you are endowed with a courageous 
 mind and singular prudence. Do you see the 
 summit of yonder lofty mountain? From that 
 peak fall the dusky waters of a black fountain, 
 which, after being confined in the neighboring 
 valley, irrigate the Stygian marshes, and supply 
 the hoarse streams of Cocytus? Bring me im- 
 mediately, in this little urn, ice-cold water drawn 
 
 1 The ancients used the part of the robe that covered the 
 bosom as a pocket. 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AJXT> PSYCHE. 83 
 
 from the very midst of the lofty fountain." Thus 
 speaking, she gave her a vessel of polished crys- 
 tal, and at the same time threatened her more 
 severely than before. 
 
 But Psyche started off with the utmost celerity 
 to reach the very summit of the mountain, pre- 
 suming that there, at least, she would find the 
 period of her most miserable life. However, 
 when she arrived at its confines, she saw the 
 deadly difficulty of the stupendous undertaking. 
 For a rock, enormously lofty and inaccessibly 
 rugged, vomits from its middle the horrid waters 
 of the fountain, which, immediately falling head- 
 long, are carried unseen through a deep, narrow, 
 and covered channel into the neighboring valley. 
 On the right and left hand they creep through 
 hollow rocks, over which fierce dragons stretch 
 out their long necks, and keep a perpetual watch 
 with unwinking vigilance. And the vocal waters 
 exclaim ever and anon as they roll along, " Be- 
 gone ; what are you about ? Mind what you 
 do ; take care ; fly ; you will perish." 
 
 Psyche, therefore, petrified through the im- 
 possibility of accomplishing the task, though 
 
84 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 she was present in body, was absent in mind, 
 and being perfectly overwhelmed by the inex- 
 tricable danger, was even deprived of the benefit 
 of tears, the last solace of the wretched. But 
 the sorrow of the innocent soul is never concealed 
 from the penetrating eyes of Providence. The 
 rapacious eagle, Jove's royal bird, on a sudden 
 flew to her with expanded wings, remembering 
 his ancient obligations to Cupid, who enabled 
 him to carry the Phrygian cup-bearer up to 
 Jove ; therefore, in gratitude to the young god, 
 the eagle deserted the lofty paths of Jupiter, and 
 bringing seasonable assistance to Cupid's wife 
 in her distress, he thus addressed her : " Can 
 you, simple as you are, and inexperienced in 
 attempts of this kind, ever hope to steal one 
 drop of this most holy and no less terrible 
 fountain? Have you not heard, at least, that 
 these Stygian waters are formidable even to 
 Jupiter himself, and that as you swear by the 
 divinity of the gods, so they are accustomed to 
 swear by the majesty of Styx? But give me 
 that little pitcher." 
 
 Snatching it in haste, he sailed away on his 
 
THE STORY, OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 85 
 
 strong wings, steering his course to the right 
 and to the left, between the rows of raging 
 teeth and the three-forked vibrating tongues of 
 the dragons, until he reached and drew the 
 reluctant waters, which warned him to begone 
 while he might in safety. But he pretended 
 that Venus herself wanted some of the water, 
 and had ordered him to procure it ; and on 
 this account his access to the fountain was 
 somewhat facilitated. 
 
 Psyche, therefore, joyfully receiving the full 
 vessel, returned with all speed to Venus. Yet 
 not even by the accomplishment of this danger- 
 ous enterprise could she appease the anger of 
 the raging goddess. For designing to expose 
 her to still more outrageous trials, Venus thus 
 addressed her, a smile, the harbinger of ruin, 
 accompanying her words : " You appear to me 
 to be a profound and malevolent sorceress, or 
 you never could with so much dexterity have 
 performed my commands : but there is one task 
 more, my dear, which you must perform. 
 Take this box," she said, delivering it to her, 
 "and direct your course to the infernal regions 
 
86 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 and the deadly palace of Pluto. Then, present- 
 ing the box to Proserpine, say, Venus requests 
 you to send her a small portion of your beauty, 
 at least as much as may be sufficient for one 
 short day ; for she has consumed all the beauty 
 she possessed, through the attention which she 
 pays to her sick son. But return with the 
 utmost expedition ; for I must adorn myself 
 with this beauty of Proserpine before I go to 
 the theatre of the gods." 
 
NINTH PAET. 
 
 PSYCHE was now truly sensible that she 
 had arrived at the extremity of her evil 
 fortune, and clearly, perceived that she was 
 openly and undisguisedly impelled to immediate 
 destruction, since she was forced to direct her 
 steps to Tartarus and the shades below. With- 
 out any further delay, therefore, she proceeded 
 towards a lofty tower, that she might thence 
 hurl herself headlong ; for she considered that 
 she should thus descend by a straight and easy 
 road to the infernal regions. But she was no 
 sooner arrived there, than a voice from the tower 
 suddenly addressed her in the following words : — 
 "Why, O miserable creature, dost thou seek 
 to destroy thyself by falling headlong hence? 
 What cowardice makes thee sink under this 
 
 (87) 
 
88 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 thy last danger and endurance, thou who hast 
 been so miraculously supported in thy former 
 perils ? For as soon as thy breath shall thus 
 be separated from thy body, thou wilt indeed 
 descend to profound Tartarus, but canst not by 
 any means return thence. Listen, therefore, to 
 me. Lacedaemon, a noble city of Achaia, is not 
 far from hence. Near this city, concealed in 
 devious places, is Tenarus, which you must 
 seek ; for there you will find a cavity, which is 
 Pluto's breathing-hole, and an untraversed road 
 presents itself to the view through the yawning 
 gap. As soon as you have passed the threshold 
 of this cavity, you will proceed in a direct path 
 to the palace of Pluto. You ought not, however, 
 to pass through those shades w T ith empty hands, 
 but should take a sop of barley bread, soaked in 
 sweet wine, in each hand, and in your mouth 
 two pieces of money. And when you have ac- 
 complished a good part of your deadly journey, 
 you will meet a lame ass laden with wood, with 
 a driver as lame as himself, who will ask you to 
 reach him certain cords to fasten the burden 
 which has fallen from the ass ; but be careful 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 89 
 
 that you pass by him in silence. Then, without 
 any delay, proceed till you arrive at the dead 
 river, where Charon, immediately demanding his 
 fee, ferries the passengers over in his old patched 
 boat to the farthest shore. 
 
 * "Avarice, it appears, lives among the dead; 
 nor does Charon himself, nor the father Pluto, 
 though so great a god, do anything gratuitously. 
 The poor man, dying, ought to prepare his viat- 
 icum ; but if he has no money at hand, will no 
 one suffer him to expire? To this squalid old 
 man give one of the pieces of money which you 
 carry with you ; yet in such a manner, that he 
 may take it with his own hand from your mouth. 
 While you are passing over the sluggish river, 
 a certain dead man, floating on its surface, and 
 raising his putrid hand, will beg you to take 
 him into the boat. Beware, however, of yield- 
 ing to any impulse of unlawful pity. Having 
 passed over the river, and proceeded to a little 
 distance beyond it, you will see some old women, 
 weaving a web, who will request you to lend 
 them a helping hand ; but it is not lawful for 
 you to touch the web. For all these, and many 
 
90 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 other particulars, are snares prepared for you by- 
 Venus, that you may drop one of the sops out 
 of your hands. And do not suppose that this 
 would be a trifling loss, since the want of only 
 one of these sops would prevent your return 
 to light. For a huge dog, with three large, 
 fierce, and formidable necks and heads, barking 
 with his thundering mouths, frightening with 
 vain fears the dead, whom he cannot injure, and 
 always watching before the threshold and black 
 palace of Proserpine, guards the empty house 
 of Pluto. Having appeased this dog with one 
 of your sops, you may easily pass by him, and 
 then you will immediately enter the presence of 
 Proserpine herself, who will receive you in a 
 very courteous and benignant manner, desire you 
 to repose on a soft seat, and persuade you to 
 partake of a sumptuous banquet. But seat your- 
 self on the ground, ask for a piece of common 
 bread, and eat it ; then deliver your message, 
 and having received what you came for, bribe 
 the cruel dog with the remaining sop. After- 
 wards, having given to the avaricious ferryman • 
 the piece of money which you have reserved, 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 91 
 
 and having passed his river, you will return by 
 the way you came, and that will bring you to 
 the same celestial light which you left. But, 
 above all things, I warn you, be particularly 
 cautious not to open or look into the box which 
 you carry, or explore that concealed treasury 
 of divine beauty." In this manner the propi- 
 tious tower delivered its prophetic admonitions. 
 
 Psyche, therefore, without delay, proceeded to 
 Tenarus, and duly taking her pieces of money 
 and her sops, ran down the infernal avenue. 
 Here, having passed by the lame ass in silence, 
 given the ferryman his fee, neglected the en- 
 treaties of the floating corpse, despised the fraud- 
 ulent prayers of the spinsters, and lulled the 
 rage of the horrid dog with a sop, she entered 
 the palace of Proserpine. Nor did she accept 
 the delicate seat or delicious banquet, but hum- 
 bly sat at the feet of Proserpine, and, content- 
 ed with a piece of common bread, delivered her 
 embassy from Venus. Immediately after this 
 she received the box secretly filled and shut; 
 and having stopped the barking mouth of the 
 dog with the remaining sop, and given the ferry- 
 
92 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 man the other piece of money, she returned from 
 the infernal regions much more vigorous than 
 before. 
 
 Having again beheld and adored the fair light 
 of day, though she was in haste to finish her 
 errand, she was seized with a rash curiosity. 
 "Behold," said she, "what a foolish bearer am 
 I of divine beauty, who do not even take the 
 least portion of it, that I may by this means 
 appear pleasing in the eyes of my beautiful 
 lover." As she ended this soliloquy, she opened 
 the box ; but it contained no beauty, nor indeed 
 anything but an infernal and truly Stygian sleep, 
 which, being freed from its confinement, imme- 
 diately seizes her, suffuses all her members with 
 a dense cloud of somnolence, and holds her pros- 
 trate on the very spot where she opened the box ; 
 so that she lay motionless, and nothing else than 
 a sleeping corpse. 
 
 But Cupid, being now recovered of his wound, 
 and unable to endure the long absence of his 
 Psyche, slipped through the narrow window of 
 the bedchamber in which he was confined. His 
 wings, invigorated by repose, flew far more swift- 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 93 
 
 ly than before ; he hastened to his Psyche, and 
 carefully brushing off the cloud of sleep, and shut- 
 ting it up again in its old receptacle, the box, he 
 roused Psyche with an innoxious touch of one of 
 his arrows. "Behold," said he, "unhappy girl, 
 again you have all but perished, a victim to 
 curiosity. Now, however, strenuously perform 
 the task imposed upon you by my mother, and 
 I myself will take care of the rest." Having 
 thus spoken, the lover soared aloft on his wings, 
 and Psyche immediately carried the present of 
 Proserpine to Venus. 
 
 In the mean time, Cupid, wasting away 
 through excess of love, and dreading his moth- 
 er's sudden prudery, betakes himself to his usual 
 weapons of craft, and having with rapid wings 
 penetrated the summit of heaven, supplicates the 
 mighty Jupiter, and defends his cause. Then 
 Jupiter, stroking the little cheeks of Cupid, and 
 kissing his hand, thus addressed him : " Though 
 you, my masterful son, never pay me that rev- 
 erence which has been decreed me by the synod 
 of the gods, but perpetually wound this breast 
 of mine, by which the laws of the elements and 
 
94 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 the revolutions of the stars are governed, and 
 frequently defile it with earthly intrigues, con- 
 trary to the laws, the Julian edict, 1 and public 
 discipline, injuring my reputation and fame by 
 base adulteries, and sordidly changing my serene 
 countenance into serpents, fire, wild beasts, birds, 
 and cattle, — nevertheless, remembering my own 
 moderation, and that you have been nursed in 
 these hands of mine, I will accomplish all that 
 you desire. At the same time you must be 
 sensible that you ought to guard against rivals, 
 and to recompense me for this service by pre- 
 senting me with any girl of transcendent beauty 
 that may now happen to be upon the earth." 
 
 Having thus spoken, he ordered Mercury im- 
 mediately to summon an assembly of all the 
 gods, and at the same time to proclaim, that 
 if any one of the celestials absented himself, he 
 should be fined ten thousand pieces of money. 
 The fear of such a penalty caused the celestial 
 theatre to be filled immediately ; whereupon lofty 
 
 1 Alluding to the law against adultery, instituted by Augus- 
 tus Caesar. 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AXD PSYCHE. 95 
 
 Jupiter, sitting on his sublime throne, thus ad- 
 dressed the assembly of gods : — 
 
 "Ye conscript gods, whose names are regis- 
 tered in the white roll of the Muses, you are all 
 well acquainted with that youth whom I have 
 reared with my own hands, and the impetuous 
 fire of whose juvenile years I deem it necessary to 
 restrain by some bridle or other. It is sufficient 
 that he is every day defamed in conversation, 
 for the adulteries and all manner of corruption 
 of which he is the cause. Every occasion of this 
 must be taken away, and his youthful libertinism 
 must be bound in nuptial fetters. He has made 
 choice of a girl, and deprived her of her virgin- 
 ity. Let him therefore hold her, let him pos- 
 sess her, and, embracing Psyche, always enjoy 
 the object of his love." 
 
 Then turning his face to Venus, "Nor do you, 
 my daughter," said he, "be sorrowful on this 
 occasion, nor fearful that your pedigree and rank 
 will be disgraced by a mortal marriage ; for I 
 will now cause the nuptials not to be unequal, 
 but legitimate, and agreeable to the civil law." 
 
96 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 Immediately after this, he ordered Mercury to 
 bring Psyche to heaven ; and as soon as she 
 arrived, extending to her a cup of ambrosia, 
 "Take this," said he, "Psyche, and be immor- 
 tal ; nor shall Cupid ever depart from your 
 embrace, but these nuptials of yours shall be 
 perpetual." 
 
 Then, without delay, a sumptuous wedding 
 supper was served up. The husband, reclining 
 at the upper end of the table, embraced Psyche 
 in his bosom ; in like manner, Jupiter was seated 
 with Juno, and after them the other gods and 
 goddesses in their proper order. Then Jupiter 
 was presented with a bowl of nectar, the wine of 
 the gods, by the rustic youth Ganymede, his 
 cup-bearer ; but Bacchus supplied the rest. Vul- 
 can dressed the supper ; the Hours empurpled 
 everything with roses and other fragrant flowers ; 
 the Graces scattered balsam ; the Muses sang 
 melodiously ; Apollo accompanied the lyre with 
 his voice ; and beautiful Venus danced with steps 
 in unison with the delightful music. The order, 
 too, of the entertainment was, that the Muses 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 97 
 
 should sing the chorus, Satyrus play on the flute, 
 and Peniscus, one of the satyrs of the wood, on 
 the pipe. 
 
 Thus Psyche came lawfully into the hands of 
 Cupid ; and at length a daughter was born to 
 them, whom we denominate Pleasure. 
 7 
 
EXPLANATIONS. 
 
 THE following explanation of this beautiful 
 fable is given by Taylor, in his introduc- 
 tion to a translation of it made by him, and 
 published in the year 1795. 
 
 This fable was designed to represent the 
 lapse of the soul from the intelligible world to 
 the earth ; of the truth of which the philosophi- 
 cal reader will be convinced by the following 
 observations. In the first place, the gods, as I 
 have elsewhere shown, are super-essential na- 
 tures, from their profound union with the first 
 cause, who is super-essential without any addi- 
 tion. But though the gods, through their sum- 
 mits or unities, transcend essence, yet their 
 unities are participated either by intellect alone, 
 or by intellect and soul, or by intellect, soul, 
 
 (98) 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 99 
 
 and body ; from which participations the various 
 orders of the gods are deduced. When, there- 
 fore, intellect, soul, and body are in conjunc- 
 tion, suspended from the super-essential unity, 
 which is the centre, flower, or blossom of a 
 divine nature, then the god from whom they 
 are suspended is called a mundane god. In the 
 next place, the common parents of the human 
 soul are the intellect and soul of the world : 
 but its proximate parents are the intellect and 
 soul of the particular star about which it was 
 originally distributed, and from which it first 
 descends. In the third place, those powers of 
 every mundane god, which are participated by 
 the body suspended from his nature, are called 
 mundane ; but those who are participated by his 
 intellect, are called super-mundane ; and the 
 soul, while subsisting in union with these super- 
 mundane powers, is said to be in the intelligible 
 world ; but when she wholly directs her atten- 
 tion to the mundane powers of her god, she is 
 said to descend from the intelligible world even 
 while subsisting in the heavens. 
 
 Thus much being premised, let us proceed to 
 
100 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 the explanation of the fable. Psyche, then, or 
 soul, is described as transcendently beautiful, 
 and this is indeed true of every human soul, 
 before it profoundly merges itself in the defiling 
 folds of dark matter. In the next place, when 
 Psyche is represented as descending from the 
 summit of a lofty mountain into a beautiful 
 valley, this signifies the descent of the soul from 
 the intelligible world into a mundane condition 
 of being, but yet without abandoning its establish- 
 ment in the heavens. Hence the palace which 
 Psyche beholds in the valley is, with great 
 propriety, said to be " a royal house, which was 
 not raised by human, but by divine hands and 
 art." The gems, too, on which Psyche is said 
 to have trod in every part of this palace, are 
 evidently symbolical of the stars. Of this mun- 
 dane yet celestial condition of being, the in- 
 corporeal voices which attended upon Psyche, 
 are likewise symbolical ; for outward discourse 
 is the last image of intellectual energy, accord- 
 ing to which the soul alone operates in the intel- 
 ligible world. As voices, therefore, they signify 
 an establishment subordinate to that which is 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 101 
 
 intelligible ; but so far as denuded of body, they 
 also signify a condition of being superior to a 
 terrene allotment. 
 
 Psyche, in this delightful situation, is married 
 to an invisible being, whom she alone recognizes 
 by her ears and hands. This invisible husband 
 proves afterwards to be Cupid, or Love ; that 
 is to say, the soul, while established in the 
 heavens, is united to love of the purest kind, 
 i. e., to intellectual love, or, in other words, is 
 not fascinated with outward form. But in this 
 beautiful palace she is attacked by the machina- 
 tions of her two sisters, who endeavor to persuade 
 her to explore the form of her unknown husband. 
 The sisters, therefore, signify those two powers 
 of the irrational part of the soul, anger and 
 desire , the latter of which powers is well defined 
 by the Pythagoreans to be a certain tendency, 
 impulse, and appetite of the soul, in order to 
 be filled with something, or to enjoy something 
 present, or to be disposed according to some 
 sensitive energy; just as reason , or the rational 
 soul, is signified by Psyche. The stratagems of 
 these sisters at length take effect, and Psyche 
 
102 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 beholds and falls in love with Love ; that is to 
 say, the rational part, through the incentives 
 of anger and desire, becomes enamoured of, and 
 captivated with, outward form ; in consequence 
 of which Cupid, or intellectual love, flies away, 
 and Psyche, or the rational soul, is precipitated 
 to earth. It is remarkable that Psyche, after 
 falling to the ground, is represented as having 
 "a stumbling and often reeling gait;" for 
 Plato, in the Phsedon, says, that the soul is 
 drawn into body with a staggering motion. 
 
 After this commence the wanderings of 
 Psyche in search of Cupid, or intellectual love, 
 from whose embraces she is unhappily torn 
 away. In the course of her journey, she ar- 
 rives at the temples of Ceres and Juno, whose 
 aid she suppliantly implores. Her conduct, 
 indeed, in this respect, is highly becoming. 
 For Ceres comprehends in her essence Juno, 
 who is the fountain of souls ; and the safety of 
 the soul arises from converting herself to the 
 divine sources of her being. 
 
 In the next place, Venus is represented de- 
 siring Mercury to proclaim Psyche through all 
 
THE STOEY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 103 
 
 lands, as one of her female slaves, that had fled 
 from her service. It is likewise said that she 
 gave him a small volume, in which the name 
 of Psyche was written, and every other particu- 
 lar respecting her. Now, I think it cannot be 
 doubted that Synesius alludes to this part of the 
 fable in the following passage from his treatise 
 on Dreams : " When the soul descends spontane- 
 ously to its former life with mercenary views, 
 it receives servitude as the reward of its mer- 
 cenary labors. But this is the intention of 
 descent, that the soul may accomplish a certain 
 servitude to the nature of the universe, pre- 
 scribed by the laws of Adrastia, or inevitable 
 fate. Hence, when the soul is fascinated with 
 material endowments, she is affected in a man- 
 ner similar to those who, though born free, are, 
 for a certain time, hired to employments, and, 
 in this condition, captivated by the beauty of 
 some female servant, determine to act in a 
 menial capacity, under the master of their be- 
 loved object. Thus, in a similar manner, when 
 we are profoundly delighted with external and 
 corporeal good, we confess that the nature of 
 
104 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 matter is beautiful, who marks our assent in 
 her secret book ; and if, considering ourselves 
 as free, we at any time determine to depart, 
 she proclaims us deserters, and endeavors to 
 bring us back, and, openly presenting her 
 mystic volume to the view, apprehends us, as 
 fugitives from our mistress. Then, indeed, 
 the soul particularly requires fortitude and divine 
 assistance, as it is no trifling contest to abrogate 
 the confession and compact which she has made. 
 Besides, in this case force will be employed ; 
 for the material inflicters of punishments will 
 then be roused to revenge, by the decrees of 
 fate, against the rebels to her laws." 
 
 Venus, however, must not be considered here 
 as the nature of matter ; for though she is not 
 the celestial Venus, but the offspring of Dione, 
 yet, according to Proclus in Cratylum, she is 
 that divine power which governs all the co- 
 ordinations in the celestial world and in the 
 earth, binds them to each other, and perfects 
 their generative progressions through a kindred 
 conjunction. As the celestial Venus, therefore, 
 separates the pure soul from generation, or the 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 105 
 
 regions of sense, so she that proceeds from Dione 
 binds the impure soul, as her legitimate slave, 
 to a corporeal life. 
 
 After this follows an account of the difficult 
 tasks which Psyche is obliged to execute by the 
 commands of Venus, all which are images of 
 the mighty toils and anxious cares which the 
 soul must necessarily endure after her lapse, in 
 order to atone for her guilt, and recover her 
 ancient residence in the intelligible world. In 
 accomplishing the last of these labors, she is 
 represented as forced to descend even to the 
 dark regions of Hades, which indicates that the 
 soul, through being enslaved to a corporeal life, 
 becomes situated in obscurity, and is deprived 
 of the light of day, i. e., of the splendor of 
 truth and reality ; agreeably to which Empe- 
 docles sings, — 
 
 " I fled from deity and heavenly light, 
 To serve mad Discord in the realms of night." 
 
 But Psyche, in retuning from Hades, is op- 
 pressed with a profound sleep, through indiscreet- 
 ly opening the box given her by Proserpine, in 
 
106 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 which she expected to find a portion of divine 
 beauty, but met with nothing but an infernal 
 Stygian sleep. This obscurely signifies, that 
 the soul, by expecting to find that which is 
 truly beautiful in a corporeal and earthly life, 
 passes into a profoundly dormant state; and it 
 appears to me, that both Plato and Plotinus 
 allude to this part of the fable, in the following 
 passages, the originals of which may be seen 
 in p. 10 of my Dissertation on the Eleusinian 
 and Bacchic Mysteries. In the first place, then, 
 Plato, in book vii. of his Republic, observes, 
 that " he who is not able, by the exercise of 
 his reason, to define the idea of the good, 
 separating it from all others, and piercing, as 
 in a battle, through every kind of argument, 
 eagerly striving to confute, not according to 
 opinion, but according to essence, and, in all 
 these, marching forward with undeviating rea- 
 son, — such a one knows nothing of the good 
 itself , nor of any good whatever ; but if he 
 has attained to any image of the good, we must 
 say he has attained to it by opinion, not by 
 science; that in the present life he is sleeping, 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE. 107 
 
 and conversant with dreams, and that, before he 
 is roused, he will descend to Hades, and there 
 be prof oundly and perfectly laid asleep" And 
 Plotinus, in Ennead. I. lib. viii. p. 80, says, "The 
 death of the soul is for it, while merged, as it 
 were, in the present body, to descend into mat- 
 ter, and be filled with its impurity, and, after 
 departing from this body, to lie absorbed in its 
 filth, till it returns to a superior condition, and 
 elevates its eye from the overwhelming mire. 
 For to be plunged into matter, is to descend to 
 Hades, and fall asleep" 
 
 Cupid, however, or intellectual love, at length 
 recovering his pristine vigor, rouses Psyche, or 
 the rational part of the soul, from her deadly 
 lethargy. In consequence of this, having accom- 
 plished her destined toils, she ascends to her 
 native heaven, becomes lawfully united to Cupid 
 (for, while descending, her union with him might 
 be called illegitimate), lives the life of the im- 
 mortals, and the natural result of this union is 
 pleasure or delight. 
 
 The following remarks on the various expla- 
 nations of this beautiful story are given in Mr. 
 
108 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 Keightley's valuable and entertaining Classical 
 Mythology : — This beautiful fiction is evidently 
 a philosophic allegory. It seems to have been 
 intended by its inventor for a representation of 
 the mystic union between the divine love and 
 the human soul, and of the trials and purifica- 
 tions which the latter must undergo, in order to 
 be perfectly fitted for an enduring union with 
 the Divinity. It is thus explained by the Chris- 
 tian my thologist Fulgentius : " The city in which 
 Psyche dwells is the world ; the king and queen 
 are God and matter ; Psyche is the soul ; her 
 sisters are the flesh and the free-will ; she is the 
 youngest, because the body is before the mind ; 
 and she is the fairest, because the soul is higher 
 than free-will, more noble than the body. Venus, 
 i. e.) lust, envies her, and sends Cupido, i. e., 
 desire, to destroy her ; but as there is desire of 
 good as well as of evil,' Cupid falls in love with 
 her; he persuades her not to see his face, that 
 is, not to learn the joys of desire. At the impul- 
 sion of her sisters, she put the lamp from under 
 the bushel, that is, quickened the flame of desire 
 which was hidden in her bosom, and loved it 
 
THE STORY OF CUPID AND PYSCHE. 109 
 
 when she saw how delightful it was ; and she 
 is said to have burned it by the dripping of the 
 lamp, because all sin burns in proportion as it 
 is loved, and fixes its sinful marks on the flesh. 
 She is, therefore, deprived of desire, and her 
 splendid fortune is exposed to perils, and driven 
 out of the palace." — This fanciful exposition will 
 probably not prove satisfactory to all readers. 
 The following one, of a modern writer, may 
 seem to come nearer the truth. "This fable, it 
 is said, is a representation of the destiny of the 
 human soul. The soul, which is of divine ori- 
 gin, is here below subjected to error in its prison, 
 the body. Hence trials and purifications are set 
 before it, that it may become capable of a higher 
 order of things, and of true desire. Two loves 
 meet it — the earthly, a deceiver, who draws it 
 down to earthly things ; the heavenly, who directs 
 its view to the original, fair and divine, and who, 
 gaining the victory over his rival, leads off the 
 soul as his bride." According to a third expos- 
 itor, the mythus is a moral one. It is intended 
 to represent the dangers to which nuptial fidelity 
 was exposed in such a degenerate country as 
 
110 THE BIRTH OF PLEASURE. 
 
 Greece, and at the same time to present an 
 image of a fidelity exposed to numerous tempta- 
 tions, and victorious over them all. We must 
 not omit to observe that Psyche (wvxri) was 
 also a Greek name for the moth. The fondness 
 of this insect for 'approaching at night the flame of 
 the lamp or candle, in which it so frequently 
 finds its death, reminds a mystic philosopher of 
 the fate of the soul, destroyed by the desire of 
 knowledge, or absorbed and losing its separate 
 existence in the Deity, who dwelt in light, ac- 
 cording to the philosophy of the East. But, 
 further, the world presents no illustration so 
 striking or so beautiful, of the immortality of 
 the soul, as that of the moth or butterfly, burst- 
 ing on brilliant wings from the dull> grovelling 
 caterpillar state in which it had previously exist- 
 ed, fluttering in the blaze of day, and feeding 
 on the most fragrant and sweetest productions 
 of the spring. Hence it was, in all probability, 
 that the Greeks named the butterfly the soul." 
 
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