Their questions recalled to Psyche"s mind the danger against which she had been warned, and she answered hastily:
"Oh, he is young and very handsome--the handsomest man in all the world, I think. But he spends much of his time in hunting, and has now gone far into the mountains to chase the boar. It was thus that, feeling myself lonely, I sent a messenger for you. And now, come and choose what you will out of the treasure-chamber, for the hour of your departure draws nigh!"
The sight of gold and precious stones heaped up in the treasure-chamber only made the sisters more jealous than before; but their jealousy did not prevent their carrying off the most splendid necklaces they could find before Psyche summoned Zephyr to bear them unseen back to their own homes.
"Why has Fortune treated her so differently from us?" cried the eldest, before they were out of sight of the palace. "Why should _she_ have boundless riches, and be married to a man who is young and handsome, and own slaves who fly through the air as if they were birds? Far indeed are the days when she sat in our father"s house, and no suitor came to woo!
But, though she was lonely and forlorn enough in the city, here she is treated as if she were a G.o.ddess, while I am linked to a husband whose head is bald, and whose back is a hump!"
"My plight is worse than yours," groaned the other sister, "for I have to spend my time nursing a man who is always ill and rarely suffers me to leave his side. But do not let us flatter her pride by telling our father and mother of the honours Fate has heaped on her. Rather let us consider how best to humble her and bring her low."
Meanwhile night had fallen, and Psyche"s husband came to her side.
"Did you take heed to my warnings," asked he, "and refuse to answer the questions of your sisters?"
"Oh yes," cried Psyche; "I told them nothing that they wished to know. I said that you were young and handsome, and gave me the most beautiful things in the world, but that they could not see you to-day, for you were hunting in the mountains."
"So far it is well, then," sighed he; "but remember that even at this moment they are plotting how they may destroy you, by filling your heart with their own evil curiosity, so that one day you may ask to see my face. But recollect, the moment you do this I vanish for ever."
"Ah, you do not trust me," sobbed Psyche; "yet I have shown you that I can be silent! Let me prove it again by suffering Zephyr to bring my sisters once more, and then never, never will I crave another boon from you."
For long her husband refused to grant her what she asked, but at last, wearied by her tears and prayers, he told her that this once she might bid Zephyr bring her sisters to her. Eagerly they ran through the garden into the palace, and greeted Psyche with warm embraces and gentle words, while she on her part did everything she could think of to give them pleasure. As before, she bade them choose whatever they most desired, and when they had returned from the treasure-chamber and were eating fruit under the trees by the fountain the elder sister spoke:
"How it grieves me to see you the victim of such deceit, and how I long to be able to ward off the danger!"
"What do you mean by such words?" asked Psyche, turning pale. "No one is deceiving me, and no G.o.ddess could be happier than I."
"Ah! you do not know--I dare not tell you," gasped the other in broken accents. "Sister, you try; I cannot shape the words."
"It is hard, but my duty demands it of me," said the second sister. It is--oh, how shall I tell it?--your husband is not such as you think, but a huge serpent whose neck swells with venom, and whose tongue darts poison. The men who work in the fields have watched him swimming across the river as darkness falls, at the moment that he goes to seek you!"
Their groans and sobs, no less than their words, convinced Psyche, who fell straightway into the pit they had digged for her.
"It is true," she said with a trembling voice, "that never yet have I beheld my husband"s face, and that many times he has warned me that the moment my eyes light upon him he will abandon me for ever. His words were always sweet and gentle, and his touch hardly resembles the skin of a serpent. It is not easy to believe; but yet, if you know, I pray you, of your love for me, to come to my aid in this deadly peril."
"Ah, hapless one, it is for that we are here," answered the elder; "and this is what you must do. This very night, fill a lamp full of oil, and cover it with a dark cloth, so that not a ray of light can be seen; then take a sharp knife and hide it in your bosom. After the serpent is sound asleep, steal softly across the room, and s.n.a.t.c.h the cloth from the lamp, so that you may see where to strike home, for if he should wake before you have cut off his head your life will be forfeit."
Having said this, they both hurriedly embraced their sister, and were wafted home on the wings of Zephyr.
Left alone, Psyche flung herself on the ground, and for many hours lay trying to subdue her misery. At one moment she thought that she could not do it--that her sisters might be wrong after all. But her faith in them was strong, and as night approached she rose up to do their bidding.
So well did she feign happiness that her husband heard no change in her voice as she bade him welcome, and, having travelled far that day, he soon laid himself down on the couch and fell sound asleep. Then Psyche seized the lamp and s.n.a.t.c.hed off the covering, but by its light she saw stretched on the cushions, not a huge and hideous serpent, but the most beautiful of all the G.o.ds, Cupid himself.
At this sight her knees knocked together with surprise, and she gave a step backwards, and the lamp, trembling in her hand, let fall a drop of burning oil on Cupid"s shoulder. He sprang to his feet, and with one reproachful look he turned, and would have flown away had not Psyche grasped his leg, and was borne up with him into the air, till at length her strength gave way and she fell to the ground, where for some time she remained unconscious.
When her senses came back, she was so miserable that she sought eternal forgetfulness in a neighbouring stream, but the river, in pity, carried her gently along and placed her on a bank of flowers. Finding that even the river would have none of her, she rose up, and resolved to wander night and day through the world till she should find her husband.
The first spot at which she halted was a temple on the top of a high mountain, where, to her surprise, she saw blades of wheat, ears of barley, sheaves of oats, scythes and ploughs, all scattered about in wild confusion. Never before had she seen such disorder about a temple, and, stooping down, she began to separate one thing from another and to place them in heaps.
While she was busy with this, a voice cried to her from afar:
"Unhappy girl, my heart bleeds for you! Yet even while you are pursued by the wrath of Aphrodite, you can labour in my service. May you find some day the rest that you deserve! But now, quit this temple, lest you draw down on me the anger of the G.o.ddess."
With despair in her soul, Psyche wandered from one place to another, not knowing and not caring whither her feet might lead her. At length she was tracked and seized by one of Aphrodite"s attendants, who dragged her by the hair into the presence of the G.o.ddess herself. Here she was beaten and scourged, both by whips and by cruel words, and, when every kind of suffering had been heaped on her, Aphrodite took a number of bags containing wheat, barley, millet, and many other seeds, and, tumbling them all into one heap, bade her separate and place them each in its own bag by the evening.
Psyche stood staring where Aphrodite had left her, not even trying to begin a task that she knew to be hopeless.
She would certainly be killed, thought she, but, after all, death would be welcome; and she laid her weary body on the floor and sought sleep.
At that moment a tiny ant, which had been pa.s.sing through the storehouse on his way to the fields, and saw her terrible straits, went and fetched all his brothers, and bade them take pity on the damsel, and do the work that had been given to her.
By sunset every grain was sorted and placed in its own bag, but Psyche waited with trembling the return of Aphrodite, as she felt that nothing she could do would content her.
And so it happened, when Aphrodite entered, and thirsting for vengeance, cried with glee, "Well, where are my seeds?" Psyche pointed silently to the row of bags against the wall, each with its mouth open, so that at the first glance it could be seen what kind of seed it contained. The G.o.ddess grew white with rage, and screamed loudly, "Wretched creature, it is not your hands that have done this! you will not escape my anger so easily"; and, tossing her a piece of bread, went away, locking the door behind her.
Next morning the G.o.ddess bade one of her slaves bring Psyche before her.
"In yonder grove," she said, on the banks of a river, feed sheep whose wool is soft as silk and as bright as gold. Before night I shall expect you to return with as much of this wool as will make me a robe. And I do not think that you will find any one to perform your task this time!"
So Psyche went towards the river, which looked so clear and cool that she stepped down to the brink, meaning to lay herself to rest in its waters. But a reed sang to her, and its song said:
[Ill.u.s.tration: APHRODITE FINDS PSYCHE"S TASK ACCOMPLISHED]
"O Psyche, do my bidding and fear nothing! Hide yourself till evening, for the sheep are driven mad by the heat of the sun, and rush wildly through the bushes and thickets. But when the air grows fresh they sink exhausted to sleep, and you can gather all the wool you want from the branches."
[Ill.u.s.tration: JOYFULLY THE EAGLE BORE BACK THE URN]
Then Psyche thanked the reed for its counsel and brought the wool safely back to the G.o.ddess; but she was received as before with scornful looks and words, and ordered to go to the top of a lofty mountain and fill a crystal urn from a fountain of black water which spouted from between walls of smooth rock. And Psyche went willingly, thinking that this time surely she must die.
But an eagle which was hovering over this dark and awful place came to her aid, and taking the urn from her he bore it in his beak to the fountain, which was guarded by two horrible dragons. It needed all his strength and skill to pa.s.s by them, and indeed it was only when he told them that Aphrodite needed it to give fresh l.u.s.tre to her beauty that they ceased to snap at him with their long fangs.
Joyfully the eagle bore back the urn to Psyche, who carried it back carefully in her breast. But Aphrodite was still unsatisfied. Again and again she found new errands for Psyche, and hoped that each one might lead her to her death, though every time birds or beasts had pity on her.
If Cupid had only known his mother"s wicked schemes, he would have contrived to stop them and to deliver Psyche. But the wound on his shoulder where the burning oil had fallen took long to heal, and for some time he was in ignorance of all that Psyche was suffering. At last, however, the pain ceased, and his first thought was to visit Psyche, who, nearly fainting with joy at the sound of his voice, poured forth all that had happened since that dreadful night which had destroyed her happiness.
"Your punishment has been sore," said he, "and I have no power to save you from the task my mother has set you. But while you fulfil this I will fly to Olympus, and beseech the G.o.ds to grant you forgiveness, and, more, a place among the immortals."
And so the envy and malice of Aphrodite and the wicked sisters were brought to nought, and Psyche left the earth, to sit enthroned on Olympus.
[_Apuleius._]
_SIR BEVIS THE STRONG_
Many hundreds of years ago there lived in the South of England an earl of Southampton, whose name was Guy. He spent most of his life in defending his country from all sorts of invaders who sailed from beyond the seas, and it was not until he was getting old that he had time to think of a wife. Then he made a very foolish choice, for he asked in marriage the daughter of the king of Scotland, who had already plighted her troth to the young and handsome Sir Murdour.