She invites them to pass a day in her
magnificent
new home, and tells con-
tradictory stories about her husband.
tradictory stories about her husband.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v01 - A to Apu
The
curiosity of Lucius being greatly exercised about the sorceress and
her magic, he importunes the girl to procure from her mistress
a magic salve which will transform him at will into an owl. By
mistake he receives the wrong salve; and instead of the bird meta-
morphosis which he had looked for, he undergoes an unlooked-for
change into an ass. In this guise, and in the service of various mas-
ters, he has opportunities of observing the follies of men from a
novel standpoint. His adventures are numerous, and he hears many
strange stories, the latter being chronicled as episodes in the record
of his experiences. At last the goddess Isis appears in a dream, and
obligingly shows him the way to effect his second metamorphosis, by
aid of the high priest of her temple, where certain mysteries are
about to be celebrated. Lucius is freed from his disguise, and is
initiated into the holy rites.
(The Golden Ass) is full of dramatic power and variety. The
succession of incident, albeit grossly licentious at times, engages the
interest without a moment's dullness. The main narrative, indeed,
is no less entertaining than the episodes. The work became a model
for story-writers of a much later period, even to the times of Field-
ing and Smollett. Boccaccio borrowed freely from it; at least one of
the many humorous exploits of Cervantes's Don Quixote) can be
attributed to an adventure of Lucius; while (Gil Blas' abounds in
reminiscences of the Latin novel. The student of folk-lore will easily
detect in the tasks imposed by Venus on her unwelcome daughter-in-
law, in the episode of "Cupid and Psyche,' the possible original from
which the like fairy tales of Europe drew many a suggestion. Prob-
ably Apuleius himself was indebted to still earlier Greek sources.
Scarcely any Latin production was more widely known and studied
from the beginning of the Italian Renaissance to the middle of the
## p. 600 (#638) ############################################
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LUCIUS APULEIUS
seventeenth century. In its style, however, it is far from classic. It
is full of archaisms and rhetorical conceits. In striving to say things
finely, the author frequently failed to say them well. This fault,
however, largely disappears in the translation; and whatever may be
the literary defects of the novel, it offers rich compensation in the
liveliness, humor, and variety of its substance.
In addition to “The Golden Ass,' the extant writings of Apuleius
include (Florida' (an anthology from his own works), “The God of
Socrates,' (The Philosophy of Plato,' and Concerning the World,' a
treatise once attributed to Aristotle. The best modern edition of his
complete works is that of Hildebrand (Leipzig, 1842); of the Meta-
morphoses,' that of Eyssenhardt (Berlin, 1869). There have been
many translations into the modern languages. The best English
versions are those of T. Taylor (London, 1822); of Sir G. Head, some-
what expurgated (London, 1851); and an unsigned translation pub-
lished in the Bohn Library, which has been drawn on for this work,
but greatly rewritten as too stiff and prolix, and in the conversations
often wholly unnatural. A very pretty edition in French, with many
illustrations, is that of Savalète (Paris, 1872).
THE TALE OF ARISTOMENES, THE COMMERCIAL TRAVELER
From «The Metamorphoses)
1
Am a native of Ægina, and I travel in Thessaly, Ætolia, and
Bæotia to purchase honey of Hypata, cheese, and other arti-
cles used in cookery. Having heard that at Hypata, the
principal city of Thessaly, fine-flavored new cheese was for sale
cheap, I made the best of my way there to buy it all up. But
as usual, happening to start left foot foremost, which is unlucky,
all my hopes of profit came to nothing; for a fellow named
Lupus, a merchant who does things on a big scale, had bought
the whole of it the day before.
Weary with my hurried journey to no purpose, I was going
early in the evening to the public baths, when to my surprise I
espied an old companion of mine named Socrates. He was sit-
ting on the ground, half covered with a rag-tag cloak, and looking
like somebody else, he was so miserably wan and thin, -in fact,
just like a street beggar; so that though he used to be my friend
and close acquaintance, I had two minds about speaking to him.
«How now, friend Socrates! ” said I: “what does this mean?
Why are you tricked out like this? What crime have you been
## p. 601 (#639) ############################################
LUCIUS APULEIUS
601
guilty of ?
Why, you look as though your family had given
you up for dead and held your funeral long ago, the probate
judge had appointed guardians for your children, and your wife,
disfigured by her long mourning, having cried herself almost
blind, was being worried by her parents to sit up and take
notice of things, and look for a new marriage. Yet now, all of
a sudden, here you come before us like a wretched ghost from
the dead, to turn everything upside down! ”
“O Aristomenes! ” said he, "it's clear that you don't know
the slippery turns, the freaks, and the never-ending tricks of
fortune. ”
As he said this, he hid his face, crimson with shame, in his
one garment of patches and tatters. I could not bear such a
miserable sight, and tried to raise him from the ground. But he
kept saying with his head all covered up, “Let me alone! let
«
me alone! let Fortune have her way with me! ”
However, I finally persuaded him to go with me; and at the
same time pulling off one of my own garments, I speedily clothed
him, or at any rate covered him. I next took him to a bath,
scrubbed and oiled him myself, and laboriously rubbed the matted
dirt off him. Having done all I could, though tired out myself,
I supported his feeble steps, and with great difficulty brought
him to my inn. There I made him lie down on a bed, gave him
plenty of food, braced him up with wine, and entertained him
with the news of the day. Pretty soon our conversation took a
merry turn; we cracked jokes, and grew noisy as we chattered.
All of a sudden, heaving a bitter sigh from the bottom of his
chest, and striking his forehead violently with his right hand, he
said:
"Miserable wretch that I am, to have got into such a predica-
ment while having a good time at a gladiatorial show!
know, I went to Macedonia on business; it took me ten months;
I was on my way home with a very neat sum of money, and had
nearly reached Larissa, which I included in my route in order to
see the show I mentioned, when I was attacked by robbers in a
lonely valley, and only escaped after losing everything I had. In
my distress I betook myself to a certain woman named Meroë,
who kept a tavern (and who, though rather old, was very good-
looking), and told her about my long absence, my earnest desire
to reach home, and my being robbed that very day. She treated
me with the greatest kindness, gave me a good supper for
a
As you
## p. 602 (#640) ############################################
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LUCIUS APULEIUS
nothing, and then let me make love to her. But from the very
moment that I was such a fool as to dally with her, my mind
seemed to desert me. I even gave her the clothes which the
robbers in common decency had left me, and the little earnings
I made there by working as cloakmaker so long as I was in good
physical condition; until at length this kind friend, and bad luck
together, reduced me to the state you just now found me in. ”
“By Pollux, then,” said I, "you deserve to suffer the very
worst misfortunes (if there be anything worse than the worst),
for having preferred a wrinkled old reprobate to your home and
children. ”
“Hush! hush! ” said he, putting his forefinger on his lips, and
looking round with a terror-stricken face to see if we were alone.
“Beware of reviling a woman skilled in the black art, for fear of
doing yourself a mischief. ”
“Say you so ? ” said I. “What kind of a woman is this inn-
keeper, so powerful and dreadful ? »
"She is a sorceress," he replied, "and possessed of magic
powers; she can draw down the heavens, make the earth heave,
harden the running water, dissolve mountains, raise the shades of
the dead, dethrone the gods, extinguish the stars, and set the
very depths of Tartarus ablaze! »
“Come, come! ” said I: "end this tragic talk, fold up your
theatrical drop-scenes, and let us hear your story in every-day
language. ”
«Should you like," said he, “to hear of one or two, yes, or a
great many of her performances ? Why, to make not only her
fellow-countrymen, but the Indians, the Ethiopians, or even the
Antipodeans, love her to distraction, are only the easy lessons of
her art, as it were, and mere trifles. Listen to what she has
done before many witnesses. By a single word she changed a
lover into a beaver, because he had gone to another flame. She
changed an innkeeper, a neighbor of hers she was envious
of, into a frog; and now the old fellow, swimming about in a
cask of his own wine, or buried in the dregs, croaks hoarsely to
his old customers, - quite in the way of business. She changed
another person, a lawyer from the Forum, into a ram, because he
had conducted a suit against her; to this very day that ram is
always butting about. Finally, however, public indignation was
aroused by so many people coming to harm through her arts;
and the very next day had been fixed upon to wreak a fearful
## p. 603 (#641) ############################################
LUCIUS APULEIUS
603
vengeance on her, by stoning her to death. She frustrated the
design by her enchantments. You remember how Medea, hay-
ing got Creon to allow her just one day before her departure,
burned his whole palace, with himself and his daughter in it, by
means of flames issuing from a garland ? Well, this sorceress,
having performed certain deadly incantations in a ditch (she told
me so herself in a drunken fit), confined everybody in the town
each in his own house for two whole days, by a secret spell of
the demons. The bars could not be wrenched off, nor the doors
taken off the hinges, nor even a breach made in the walls. At
last, by common consent, the people all swore they would not
lift a' hand against her, and would come to her defense if any
one else did. She then liberated the whole city. But in the
middle of the night she conveyed the author of the conspiracy,
with all his house, close barred as it was, — the walls, the very
ground, and even the foundations, - to another city a hundred
miles off, on the top of a craggy mountain, and so without water.
And as the houses of the inhabitants were built so close together
that there was not room for the new-comer, she threw down the
house before the gate of the city and took her departure. ”
«You narrate marvelous things,” said I, “my good Socrates;
and no less terrible than marvelous. In fact, you have excited
no small anxiety (indeed I may say fear) in me too; not a mere
grain of apprehension, but a piercing dread for fear this old hag
should come to know our conversation in the same way, by the
help of some demon. Let us get to bed without delay; and
when we have rested ourselves by a little sleep, let us fly as far
as we possibly can before daylight. ”
While I was still advising him thus, the worthy Socrates,
overcome by more wine than he was used to and by his fatigue,
had fallen asleep and was snoring loudly. I shut the door, drew
the bolts, and placing my bed close against the hinges, tossed it
up well and lay down on it. I lay awake some time through
fear, but closed my eyes at last a little before midnight.
I had just fallen asleep, when suddenly the door was burst
open with such violence that it was evidently not done by rob-
bers; the hinges were absolutely broken and wrenched off, and it
was thrown to the ground. The small bedstead, minus one foot
and rotten, was also upset by the shock; and falling upon me,
who had been rolled out on the floor, it completely covered and
hid me.
Then I perceived that certain emotions can be excited
## p. 604 (#642) ############################################
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LUCIUS APULEIUS
by exactly opposite causes; for as tears often come from joy, so,
in spite of my terror, I could not help laughing to see myself
turned from Aristomenes into a tortoise. As I lay on the floor,
completely covered by the bed, and peeping out to see what was
the matter, I saw two old women, one carrying a lighted lamp
and the other a sponge and a drawn sword, plant themselves on
either side of Socrates, who was fast asleep.
The one with the sword said to the other:–«This, sister
Panthea, is my dear Endymion, my Ganymede, who by day and
by night has laughed my youth to scorn. This is he who, de-
spising my passion, not only defames me with abusive language,
but is preparing also for flight; and I forsooth, deserted through
the craft of this Ulysses, like another Calypso, am to be left to
lament in eternal loneliness! »
Then extending her right hand, and pointing me out to her
friend Panthea:-
“And there,” said she, “is his worthy counselor, Aristomenes,
who was the planner of this flight, and who now, half dead, is
lying flat on the ground under the bedstead and looking at all
that is going on, while he fancies that he is to tell scandalous
stories of me with impunity. I'll take care, however, that some
day, aye, and before long, too, - this very instant, in fact, - he
shall repent of his recent chatter and his present curiosity. ”
On hearing this I felt myself streaming with cold perspiration,
and my heart began to throb so violently that even the bedstead
danced on my back.
“Well, sister,” said the worthy Panthea, shall we hack him
to pieces at once, like the Bacchanals, or tie his limbs and
mutilate him ? »
To this Meroë replied, - and I saw from what was happening,
as well as from what Socrates had told, how well the name fitted
her, -- "Rather let him live, if only to cover the body of this
wretched creature with a little earth. ”
Then, moving Socrates's head to one side, she plunged the
sword into his throat up to the hilt, catching the blood in a
small leathern bottle so carefully that not a drop of it was to
be seen.
A11 this I saw with my own eyes.
The worthy
Meroë— in order, I suppose, not to omit any due observance in
the sacrifice of the victim — then thrust her right hand through
the wound, and drew forth the heart of my unhappy companion.
His windpipe being severed, he emitted a sort of indistinct
## p. 605 (#643) ############################################
LUCIUS APULEIUS
605
(
gurgling noise, and poured forth his breath with his bubbling
blood. Panthea then stopped the gaping wound with a sponge,
exclaiming, “Beware, o sea-born sponge, how thou dost pass
through a river! »
When she had said this, they lifted my bed from the ground,
and dashed over me a mass of filth.
Hardly had they passed over the threshold when the door
resumed its former state. The hinges settled back on the pan-
els, the posts returned to the bars, and the bolts flew back to
their sockets again. I lay prostrate on the ground in a squalid
plight, terrified, naked, cold, and drenched. Indeed, I was half
dead, though still alive; and pursued a train of reflections like
one already in the grave, or to say the least on the way to the
cross, to which I was surely destined. “What,” said I, “will
become of me, when this man is found in the morning with his
throat cut ? If I tell the truth, who will believe a word of the
story?
You ought at least, they will say, to have called
for help, if as strong a man as you are could not withstand
woman! Is a man's throat to be cut before your eyes, and you
keep silence? Why was it that you were not assassinated too?
How did the villains come to spare you, a witness of the murder ?
They would naturally kill you, if only to put an end to all
evidence of the crime. Since your escape from death was against
reason, return to it. ) »
I said these things to myself over and over again, while the
night was fast verging toward day. It seemed best to me, there.
fore, to escape on the sly before daylight and pursue my journey,
though I was all in a tremble. I took up my bundle, put the
key in the door, and drew back the bolts. But this good and
faithful door, which had opened of its own accord in the night,
would not open now till I had tried the key again and again.
"Hallo, porter! ” said I, where are you? Open the gate, I
want to be off before daybreak. ”
The porter, who was lying on the ground behind the door,
only grunted, "Why do you want to begin a journey at this time
of night? Don't you know the roads are infested by robbers ?
You may have a mind to meet your death, — perhaps your con-
science stings you for some crime you have committed; but I
haven't a head like a pumpkin, that I should die for your sake! ”
"It isn't very far from daybreak,” said I; and besides, what
can robbers take from a traveler in utter poverty?
Don't you
## p. 606 (#644) ############################################
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LUCIUS APULEIUS
know, you fool, that a naked man can't be stripped by ten ath-
letes ? »
The drowsy porter turned over and answered:-“And how
am I to know but what you have murdered that fellow-traveler
of yours that you came here with last night, and are running
away to save yourself? And now I remember that I saw Tar-
tarus through a hole in the earth just at that hour, and Cerberus
looking ready to eat me up. ”
Then I came to the conclusion that the worthy Meroë had
not spared my throat out of pity, but to reserve me for the
cross. So, on returning to my chamber, I thought over some
speedy method of putting an end to myself; but fortune had
provided me with no weapon for self-destruction, except the
bedstead. “Now, bedstead,” said I, “most dear to my soul,
partner with me in so many sorrows, fully conscious and a spec-
tator of this night's events, and whom alone when accused I can
adduce as a witness of my innocence -- do thou supply me (who
would fain hasten to the shades below) a welcome instrument
of death. ”
Thus saying, I began to undo the bed-cord. I threw one end
of it over a small beam projecting above the window, fastened it
there, and made a slip-knot at the other end. Then I mounted
on the bed, and thus elevated for my own destruction, put my
head into the noose and kicked away my support with one foot;
so that the noose, tightened about my throat by the strain of my
weight, might stop my breath. But the rope, which was old and
rotten, broke in two; and falling from aloft, I tumbled heavily
upon Socrates, who was lying close by, and rolled with him on
the floor.
Lo and behold! at that very instant the porter burst into
the room, bawling out, “Where are you, you who were in such
monstrous haste to be off at midnight, and now lie snoring, rolled
up in the bed-clothes ? »
At these words — whether awakened by my fall or by the
rasping voice of the porter, I know not — Socrates was the first
to start up; and he exclaimed, “Evidently travelers have good
reason for detesting these hostlers. This nuisance here, breaking
in without being asked, - most likely to steal something, - has
waked me out of a sound sleep by his outrageous bellowing. ”
On hearing him speak I jumped up briskly, in an ecstasy
of unhoped-for joy:-“Faithfulest of porters,” I exclaimed, “my
## p. 607 (#645) ############################################
LUCIUS APULEIUS
607
friend, my own father, and my brother,- behold him whom you,
in your drunken fit, falsely accuse me of having murdered. ”
So saying, I embraced Socrates, and was for loading him with
kisses; but he repulsed me with considerable violence. “Get out
with you! ” he cried. Sorely confused, I trumped up some absurd
story on the spur of the moment, to give another turn to the
conversation, and taking him by the right hand-
“Why not be off,” said I, “and enjoy the freshness of the
morning on our journey? ”
So I took my bundle, and having paid the innkeeper for our
night's lodging, we started on our road.
We had gone some little distance, and now, everything being
illumined by the beams of the rising sun, I keenly and attentively
examined that part of my companion's neck into which I had seen
the sword plunged.
«Foolish man,” said I to myself, buried in your cups, you
certainly have had a most absurd dream. Why, look: here's Soc-
rates, safe, sound, and hearty. Where is the wound? Where is
the sponge? Where is the scar of a gash so deep and so recent ? »
Addressing myself to him, I remarked, “No wonder the doc.
tors say that hideous and ominous dreams come only to people
stuffed with food and liquor. My own case is a good instance.
I went beyond moderation in my drinking last evening, and have
passed a wretched night full of shocking and dreadful visions, so
that I still fancy myself spattered and defiled with human gore. ”
“It is not gore,” he replied with a smile, “that you are
sprinkled with. And yet in my sleep I thought my own throat
was being cut, and felt some pain in my neck, and fancied that
my very heart was being plucked out. Even now I am quite
faint; my knees tremble; I stagger as I go, and feel in want of
some food to hearten me up. ”
“Look,” cried I, here is breakfast all ready for you. ” So
saying, I lifted my wallet from my shoulders, handed him some
bread and cheese, and said, "Let us sit down near that plane-
tree. ” We did so, and I helped myself to some refreshment.
While looking at him more closely, as he was eating with a
voracious appetite, I saw that he was faint, and of a hue like
boxwood. His natural color, in fact, had so forsaken him, that
as I recalled those nocturnal furies to my frightened imagination,
the very first piece of bread I put in my mouth, though exceed-
ingly small, stuck in the middle of my throat and would pass
## p. 608 (#646) ############################################
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LUCIUS APULEIUS
neither downward nor upward. Besides, the number of people
passing along increased my fears; for who would believe that one
of two companions could meet his death except at the hands of
the other?
Presently, after having gorged himself with food, he began to
be impatient for some drink, for he had bolted the larger part of
an excellent cheese. Not far from the roots of the plane-tree a
gentle stream flowed slowly along, like a placid lake, rivaling
silver or crystal.
“Look,” said I: "drink your fill of the water of this stream,
bright as the Milky Way. ”
He arose, and, wrapping himself in his cloak, with his knees
doubled under him, knelt down upon the shelving bank and bent
greedily toward the water. Scarcely had he touched its surface
with his lips, when the wound in his throat burst open and the
sponge rolled out, a few drops of blood with it; and his lifeless
body would have fallen into the river had I not laid hold of one
of his feet, and dragged him with great difficulty and labor to
the top of the bank. There, having mourned my hapless com-
rade as much as there was time, I buried him in the sandy soil
that bordered the stream. Then, trembling and terror-stricken, I
fled through various unfrequented places; and as though guilty of
homicide, abandoned my country and my home, embraced a vol.
untary exile, and now dwell in Ætolia, where I have married
another wife.
Translated for (A Library of the World's Best Literature. )
THE AWAKENING OF CUPID
[The radical difference in the constituent parts of the Golden Ass) is
startling, and is well illustrated by the selection given previously and that
which follows. The story of the drummer) comports exactly with the mod-
ern idea of realism in fiction: a vivid and unflinching picture of manners and
morals, full of broad coarse humor and worldly wit. The story of Cupid and
Psyche is the purest, daintiest, most poetic of fancies; in essence a fairy tale
that might be told of an evening by the fire-light in the second century or
the nineteenth, but embodying also a high and beautiful allegory, and treated
with a delicate art which is in extreme contrast with the body of the Golden
Ass. ) The difference is almost as striking as between Gray's lampoon on
“Jemmy Twitcher) and his Bard) or Elegy); or between Aristophanes's
revels in filth and his ecstatic soarings into the heavenliest regions of poetry.
The contrast is even more rasping when we remember that the tale is
not put into the mouth of a girl gazing dreamily into the glowing coals on
the hearth, or of some elegant reciter amusing a social group in a Roman
## p. 609 (#647) ############################################
LUCIUS APULEIUS
609
drawing-room or garden, but of a grizzled hag who is maid of all work in a
robbers' cave. She tells it to divert the mind of a lovely young bride held
for ransom. It begins like a modern fairy tale, with a great king and queen
who had «three daughters of remarkable beauty,” the loveliest being the
peerless Psyche. Even Venus becomes envious of the honors paid to Psyche's
charms, and summons Cupid to wing one of his shafts which shall cause her
«to be seized with the most burning love for the lowest of mankind, so as
to disgrace and ruin her. Cupid undertakes the task, but instead falls in
love with her himself. Meanwhile an oracle from Apollo, instigated by
Venus, dooms her to be sacrificed in marriage to some unknown aërial mon-
ster, who must find her alone on a naked rock. She is so placed, awaiting
her doom in terror; but the zephyrs bear her away to the palace of Love.
Cupid hides her there, lest Venus wreak vengeance on them both; and there,
half terrified but soon soothed, in the darkness of night she hears from Cupid
that he, her husband, is no monster, but the fairest of immortals. He will
not disclose his identity, however; not only so, but he tenderly warns her
that she must not seek to discover it, or even to behold him, till he gives
permission, unless she would bring hopeless disaster on both. Nor must she
confide in her two sisters, lest their unwisdom or sudden envy cause harm.
The simple-hearted and affectionate girl, however, in her craving for sym-
pathy, cannot resist the temptation to boast of her happiness to her sisters.
She invites them to pass a day in her magnificent new home, and tells con-
tradictory stories about her husband. Alas! they depart bitterly envious, and
plotting to make her ruin her own joy out of fear and curiosity. ]
“Wam
Hat are we to say, sister, (said one to the other] of the
monstrous lies of that silly creature ? At one time her
husband is a young man, with the down just showing
itself on his chin; at another he is of middle age, and his hair
begins to be silvered with gray.
You may depend upon
it, sister, either the wretch has invented these lies to deceive us,
or else she does not know herself how her husband looks. Which-
ever is the case, she must be deprived of these riches as soon as
possible. And yet, if she is really ignorant of her husband's
appearance, she must no doubt have married a god, and who knows
what will happen? At all events, if — which heaven forbid — she
does become the mother of a divine infant, I shall instantly hang
myself,
Meanwhile let us return to our parents, and devise
some scheme based on what we have just been saying. ”
The sisters, thus inflamed with jealousy, called on their par-
ents 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 wonted assistance of the
breeze, they descended swiftly to Psyche, and with tears squeezed
out by rubbing their eyelids, thus craftily addressed her:-
11-39
## p. 610 (#648) ############################################
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LUCIUS APULEIUS
Happy indeed are you, and fortunate in your very ignorance
of so heavy a misfortune. There you sit, without a thought
of danger; while we, your sisters, who watch over your interests
with the most vigilant care, are in anguish at your lost condi-
tion. For we have learned as truth, and as sharers in your
sorrows and misfortunes cannot 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. Remember the
Pythian Oracle. Besides, a great many of the husbandmen, who
hunt all round the country, and ever so many of the neighbors,
have observed him returning home from his feeding-place in the
evening. All declare, too, that he will not long continue to
pamper you with delicacies, but will presently devour you. Will
you listen to us, who are so anxious for your precious safety, and
avoiding death, live with us secure from danger, or die hor-
ribly? But if you are fascinated by your country home, or by
the endearments of a serpent, we have at all events done our
duty toward 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
an almost lifeless voice, she faltered out these broken words:-
“Dearest sisters, you have acted toward 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 in-
vented 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 undertone by night, and have to bear
with a husband of an unknown appearance, and one that has
an utter aversion to the light of day. He may well, therefore,
be some monster or other. Besides, he threatens some shocking
misfortune as the consequence of indulging any curiosity to view
his features. So, then, if you are able to give any aid to your
sister in this perilous emergency, don't delay a moment. ”
»
(
[One of them replies:-)
«Since the ties of blood oblige us to disregard peril when
your safety is to be insured, we will tell you the only means
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LUCIUS APULEIUS
611
of safety. We have considered it over and over again. On
that side of the bed where you are used to lie, conceal a
very sharp razor; and also hide under the tapestry a lighted
lamp, well trimmed and full of oil. Make these preparations
with the utmost secrecy. After the monster has glided into bed
as usual, when he is stretched out at length, fast asleep and
breathing heavily, as you slide out of bed, go softly along with
bare feet and on tiptoe, and bring out the lamp from its hiding-
place; then having the aid of its light, raise your right hand,
bring down the weapon with all your might, and cut off the
head of the creature at the neck. Then we will bring you away
with all these things, and if you wish, will wed you to a human
creature like yourself. ”
[They then depart, fearing for themselves if they are near when the catas.
trophe happens. ]
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 wavered, and feared. She
hurried, she procrastinated; now she was bold, now tremulous;
now dubious, now agitated by rage; and what was the most
singular thing of all, in the same being she hated the beast
and loved the husband. Nevertheless, as the evening drew to a
close, she hurriedly prepared the instruments of her enterprise.
The night came, and with it her husband. After he fell
asleep, Psyche, to whose weak body and spirit the cruel influence
of fate imparted unusual strength, uncovered the lamp, and
seized the knife with the courage of a man. But the instant
she advanced, she beheld the very gentlest and sweetest of all
creatures, even Cupid himself, the beautiful God of Love, there
fast asleep; at sight of whom, the joyous flame of the lamp
shone with redoubled vigor, and the sacrilegious dagger repented
the keenness of its edge.
But Psyche, losing the control of her senses, faint, deadly
pale, and trembling all over, 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 commission
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
## p. 612 (#650) ############################################
612
LUCIUS APULEIUS
1
gazing upon the beauty of those divine features. She looked
upon the genial locks of his golden head, teeming with ambrosial
perfume, the circling curls that strayed over his milk-white neck
and roseate cheeks, and fell gracefully entangled, some before
and some behind, causing the very light of the lamp itself to
flicker by their radiant splendor. On the shoulders of the 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 his bed lay his
bow, his quiver, and his arrows, the auspicious weapons of the
mighty god.
While with insatiable wonder and curiosity Psyche is exam-
ining 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 happening 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, 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
overpowering, the lamp, whether from treachery or baneful envy,
or because it longed to touch, and to kiss as it were, so beau-
tiful an object, spirted a drop of scalding oil from the summit of
its flame upon the right shoulder of the god.
The god,
thus scorched, sprang from the bed, and seeing the disgrace.
ful tokens of forfeited fidelity, started to fly away, without a
word, from the eyes and arms of his most unhappy 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.
Translation of Bohn Library, revised.
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGANDE ARBORN
3 9076 00077 6372
PN
6013
. W27
vil
Library of the world's best
literature
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
DEARBORN CAMPUS UBRARY
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curiosity of Lucius being greatly exercised about the sorceress and
her magic, he importunes the girl to procure from her mistress
a magic salve which will transform him at will into an owl. By
mistake he receives the wrong salve; and instead of the bird meta-
morphosis which he had looked for, he undergoes an unlooked-for
change into an ass. In this guise, and in the service of various mas-
ters, he has opportunities of observing the follies of men from a
novel standpoint. His adventures are numerous, and he hears many
strange stories, the latter being chronicled as episodes in the record
of his experiences. At last the goddess Isis appears in a dream, and
obligingly shows him the way to effect his second metamorphosis, by
aid of the high priest of her temple, where certain mysteries are
about to be celebrated. Lucius is freed from his disguise, and is
initiated into the holy rites.
(The Golden Ass) is full of dramatic power and variety. The
succession of incident, albeit grossly licentious at times, engages the
interest without a moment's dullness. The main narrative, indeed,
is no less entertaining than the episodes. The work became a model
for story-writers of a much later period, even to the times of Field-
ing and Smollett. Boccaccio borrowed freely from it; at least one of
the many humorous exploits of Cervantes's Don Quixote) can be
attributed to an adventure of Lucius; while (Gil Blas' abounds in
reminiscences of the Latin novel. The student of folk-lore will easily
detect in the tasks imposed by Venus on her unwelcome daughter-in-
law, in the episode of "Cupid and Psyche,' the possible original from
which the like fairy tales of Europe drew many a suggestion. Prob-
ably Apuleius himself was indebted to still earlier Greek sources.
Scarcely any Latin production was more widely known and studied
from the beginning of the Italian Renaissance to the middle of the
## p. 600 (#638) ############################################
600
LUCIUS APULEIUS
seventeenth century. In its style, however, it is far from classic. It
is full of archaisms and rhetorical conceits. In striving to say things
finely, the author frequently failed to say them well. This fault,
however, largely disappears in the translation; and whatever may be
the literary defects of the novel, it offers rich compensation in the
liveliness, humor, and variety of its substance.
In addition to “The Golden Ass,' the extant writings of Apuleius
include (Florida' (an anthology from his own works), “The God of
Socrates,' (The Philosophy of Plato,' and Concerning the World,' a
treatise once attributed to Aristotle. The best modern edition of his
complete works is that of Hildebrand (Leipzig, 1842); of the Meta-
morphoses,' that of Eyssenhardt (Berlin, 1869). There have been
many translations into the modern languages. The best English
versions are those of T. Taylor (London, 1822); of Sir G. Head, some-
what expurgated (London, 1851); and an unsigned translation pub-
lished in the Bohn Library, which has been drawn on for this work,
but greatly rewritten as too stiff and prolix, and in the conversations
often wholly unnatural. A very pretty edition in French, with many
illustrations, is that of Savalète (Paris, 1872).
THE TALE OF ARISTOMENES, THE COMMERCIAL TRAVELER
From «The Metamorphoses)
1
Am a native of Ægina, and I travel in Thessaly, Ætolia, and
Bæotia to purchase honey of Hypata, cheese, and other arti-
cles used in cookery. Having heard that at Hypata, the
principal city of Thessaly, fine-flavored new cheese was for sale
cheap, I made the best of my way there to buy it all up. But
as usual, happening to start left foot foremost, which is unlucky,
all my hopes of profit came to nothing; for a fellow named
Lupus, a merchant who does things on a big scale, had bought
the whole of it the day before.
Weary with my hurried journey to no purpose, I was going
early in the evening to the public baths, when to my surprise I
espied an old companion of mine named Socrates. He was sit-
ting on the ground, half covered with a rag-tag cloak, and looking
like somebody else, he was so miserably wan and thin, -in fact,
just like a street beggar; so that though he used to be my friend
and close acquaintance, I had two minds about speaking to him.
«How now, friend Socrates! ” said I: “what does this mean?
Why are you tricked out like this? What crime have you been
## p. 601 (#639) ############################################
LUCIUS APULEIUS
601
guilty of ?
Why, you look as though your family had given
you up for dead and held your funeral long ago, the probate
judge had appointed guardians for your children, and your wife,
disfigured by her long mourning, having cried herself almost
blind, was being worried by her parents to sit up and take
notice of things, and look for a new marriage. Yet now, all of
a sudden, here you come before us like a wretched ghost from
the dead, to turn everything upside down! ”
“O Aristomenes! ” said he, "it's clear that you don't know
the slippery turns, the freaks, and the never-ending tricks of
fortune. ”
As he said this, he hid his face, crimson with shame, in his
one garment of patches and tatters. I could not bear such a
miserable sight, and tried to raise him from the ground. But he
kept saying with his head all covered up, “Let me alone! let
«
me alone! let Fortune have her way with me! ”
However, I finally persuaded him to go with me; and at the
same time pulling off one of my own garments, I speedily clothed
him, or at any rate covered him. I next took him to a bath,
scrubbed and oiled him myself, and laboriously rubbed the matted
dirt off him. Having done all I could, though tired out myself,
I supported his feeble steps, and with great difficulty brought
him to my inn. There I made him lie down on a bed, gave him
plenty of food, braced him up with wine, and entertained him
with the news of the day. Pretty soon our conversation took a
merry turn; we cracked jokes, and grew noisy as we chattered.
All of a sudden, heaving a bitter sigh from the bottom of his
chest, and striking his forehead violently with his right hand, he
said:
"Miserable wretch that I am, to have got into such a predica-
ment while having a good time at a gladiatorial show!
know, I went to Macedonia on business; it took me ten months;
I was on my way home with a very neat sum of money, and had
nearly reached Larissa, which I included in my route in order to
see the show I mentioned, when I was attacked by robbers in a
lonely valley, and only escaped after losing everything I had. In
my distress I betook myself to a certain woman named Meroë,
who kept a tavern (and who, though rather old, was very good-
looking), and told her about my long absence, my earnest desire
to reach home, and my being robbed that very day. She treated
me with the greatest kindness, gave me a good supper for
a
As you
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602
LUCIUS APULEIUS
nothing, and then let me make love to her. But from the very
moment that I was such a fool as to dally with her, my mind
seemed to desert me. I even gave her the clothes which the
robbers in common decency had left me, and the little earnings
I made there by working as cloakmaker so long as I was in good
physical condition; until at length this kind friend, and bad luck
together, reduced me to the state you just now found me in. ”
“By Pollux, then,” said I, "you deserve to suffer the very
worst misfortunes (if there be anything worse than the worst),
for having preferred a wrinkled old reprobate to your home and
children. ”
“Hush! hush! ” said he, putting his forefinger on his lips, and
looking round with a terror-stricken face to see if we were alone.
“Beware of reviling a woman skilled in the black art, for fear of
doing yourself a mischief. ”
“Say you so ? ” said I. “What kind of a woman is this inn-
keeper, so powerful and dreadful ? »
"She is a sorceress," he replied, "and possessed of magic
powers; she can draw down the heavens, make the earth heave,
harden the running water, dissolve mountains, raise the shades of
the dead, dethrone the gods, extinguish the stars, and set the
very depths of Tartarus ablaze! »
“Come, come! ” said I: "end this tragic talk, fold up your
theatrical drop-scenes, and let us hear your story in every-day
language. ”
«Should you like," said he, “to hear of one or two, yes, or a
great many of her performances ? Why, to make not only her
fellow-countrymen, but the Indians, the Ethiopians, or even the
Antipodeans, love her to distraction, are only the easy lessons of
her art, as it were, and mere trifles. Listen to what she has
done before many witnesses. By a single word she changed a
lover into a beaver, because he had gone to another flame. She
changed an innkeeper, a neighbor of hers she was envious
of, into a frog; and now the old fellow, swimming about in a
cask of his own wine, or buried in the dregs, croaks hoarsely to
his old customers, - quite in the way of business. She changed
another person, a lawyer from the Forum, into a ram, because he
had conducted a suit against her; to this very day that ram is
always butting about. Finally, however, public indignation was
aroused by so many people coming to harm through her arts;
and the very next day had been fixed upon to wreak a fearful
## p. 603 (#641) ############################################
LUCIUS APULEIUS
603
vengeance on her, by stoning her to death. She frustrated the
design by her enchantments. You remember how Medea, hay-
ing got Creon to allow her just one day before her departure,
burned his whole palace, with himself and his daughter in it, by
means of flames issuing from a garland ? Well, this sorceress,
having performed certain deadly incantations in a ditch (she told
me so herself in a drunken fit), confined everybody in the town
each in his own house for two whole days, by a secret spell of
the demons. The bars could not be wrenched off, nor the doors
taken off the hinges, nor even a breach made in the walls. At
last, by common consent, the people all swore they would not
lift a' hand against her, and would come to her defense if any
one else did. She then liberated the whole city. But in the
middle of the night she conveyed the author of the conspiracy,
with all his house, close barred as it was, — the walls, the very
ground, and even the foundations, - to another city a hundred
miles off, on the top of a craggy mountain, and so without water.
And as the houses of the inhabitants were built so close together
that there was not room for the new-comer, she threw down the
house before the gate of the city and took her departure. ”
«You narrate marvelous things,” said I, “my good Socrates;
and no less terrible than marvelous. In fact, you have excited
no small anxiety (indeed I may say fear) in me too; not a mere
grain of apprehension, but a piercing dread for fear this old hag
should come to know our conversation in the same way, by the
help of some demon. Let us get to bed without delay; and
when we have rested ourselves by a little sleep, let us fly as far
as we possibly can before daylight. ”
While I was still advising him thus, the worthy Socrates,
overcome by more wine than he was used to and by his fatigue,
had fallen asleep and was snoring loudly. I shut the door, drew
the bolts, and placing my bed close against the hinges, tossed it
up well and lay down on it. I lay awake some time through
fear, but closed my eyes at last a little before midnight.
I had just fallen asleep, when suddenly the door was burst
open with such violence that it was evidently not done by rob-
bers; the hinges were absolutely broken and wrenched off, and it
was thrown to the ground. The small bedstead, minus one foot
and rotten, was also upset by the shock; and falling upon me,
who had been rolled out on the floor, it completely covered and
hid me.
Then I perceived that certain emotions can be excited
## p. 604 (#642) ############################################
604
LUCIUS APULEIUS
by exactly opposite causes; for as tears often come from joy, so,
in spite of my terror, I could not help laughing to see myself
turned from Aristomenes into a tortoise. As I lay on the floor,
completely covered by the bed, and peeping out to see what was
the matter, I saw two old women, one carrying a lighted lamp
and the other a sponge and a drawn sword, plant themselves on
either side of Socrates, who was fast asleep.
The one with the sword said to the other:–«This, sister
Panthea, is my dear Endymion, my Ganymede, who by day and
by night has laughed my youth to scorn. This is he who, de-
spising my passion, not only defames me with abusive language,
but is preparing also for flight; and I forsooth, deserted through
the craft of this Ulysses, like another Calypso, am to be left to
lament in eternal loneliness! »
Then extending her right hand, and pointing me out to her
friend Panthea:-
“And there,” said she, “is his worthy counselor, Aristomenes,
who was the planner of this flight, and who now, half dead, is
lying flat on the ground under the bedstead and looking at all
that is going on, while he fancies that he is to tell scandalous
stories of me with impunity. I'll take care, however, that some
day, aye, and before long, too, - this very instant, in fact, - he
shall repent of his recent chatter and his present curiosity. ”
On hearing this I felt myself streaming with cold perspiration,
and my heart began to throb so violently that even the bedstead
danced on my back.
“Well, sister,” said the worthy Panthea, shall we hack him
to pieces at once, like the Bacchanals, or tie his limbs and
mutilate him ? »
To this Meroë replied, - and I saw from what was happening,
as well as from what Socrates had told, how well the name fitted
her, -- "Rather let him live, if only to cover the body of this
wretched creature with a little earth. ”
Then, moving Socrates's head to one side, she plunged the
sword into his throat up to the hilt, catching the blood in a
small leathern bottle so carefully that not a drop of it was to
be seen.
A11 this I saw with my own eyes.
The worthy
Meroë— in order, I suppose, not to omit any due observance in
the sacrifice of the victim — then thrust her right hand through
the wound, and drew forth the heart of my unhappy companion.
His windpipe being severed, he emitted a sort of indistinct
## p. 605 (#643) ############################################
LUCIUS APULEIUS
605
(
gurgling noise, and poured forth his breath with his bubbling
blood. Panthea then stopped the gaping wound with a sponge,
exclaiming, “Beware, o sea-born sponge, how thou dost pass
through a river! »
When she had said this, they lifted my bed from the ground,
and dashed over me a mass of filth.
Hardly had they passed over the threshold when the door
resumed its former state. The hinges settled back on the pan-
els, the posts returned to the bars, and the bolts flew back to
their sockets again. I lay prostrate on the ground in a squalid
plight, terrified, naked, cold, and drenched. Indeed, I was half
dead, though still alive; and pursued a train of reflections like
one already in the grave, or to say the least on the way to the
cross, to which I was surely destined. “What,” said I, “will
become of me, when this man is found in the morning with his
throat cut ? If I tell the truth, who will believe a word of the
story?
You ought at least, they will say, to have called
for help, if as strong a man as you are could not withstand
woman! Is a man's throat to be cut before your eyes, and you
keep silence? Why was it that you were not assassinated too?
How did the villains come to spare you, a witness of the murder ?
They would naturally kill you, if only to put an end to all
evidence of the crime. Since your escape from death was against
reason, return to it. ) »
I said these things to myself over and over again, while the
night was fast verging toward day. It seemed best to me, there.
fore, to escape on the sly before daylight and pursue my journey,
though I was all in a tremble. I took up my bundle, put the
key in the door, and drew back the bolts. But this good and
faithful door, which had opened of its own accord in the night,
would not open now till I had tried the key again and again.
"Hallo, porter! ” said I, where are you? Open the gate, I
want to be off before daybreak. ”
The porter, who was lying on the ground behind the door,
only grunted, "Why do you want to begin a journey at this time
of night? Don't you know the roads are infested by robbers ?
You may have a mind to meet your death, — perhaps your con-
science stings you for some crime you have committed; but I
haven't a head like a pumpkin, that I should die for your sake! ”
"It isn't very far from daybreak,” said I; and besides, what
can robbers take from a traveler in utter poverty?
Don't you
## p. 606 (#644) ############################################
606
LUCIUS APULEIUS
know, you fool, that a naked man can't be stripped by ten ath-
letes ? »
The drowsy porter turned over and answered:-“And how
am I to know but what you have murdered that fellow-traveler
of yours that you came here with last night, and are running
away to save yourself? And now I remember that I saw Tar-
tarus through a hole in the earth just at that hour, and Cerberus
looking ready to eat me up. ”
Then I came to the conclusion that the worthy Meroë had
not spared my throat out of pity, but to reserve me for the
cross. So, on returning to my chamber, I thought over some
speedy method of putting an end to myself; but fortune had
provided me with no weapon for self-destruction, except the
bedstead. “Now, bedstead,” said I, “most dear to my soul,
partner with me in so many sorrows, fully conscious and a spec-
tator of this night's events, and whom alone when accused I can
adduce as a witness of my innocence -- do thou supply me (who
would fain hasten to the shades below) a welcome instrument
of death. ”
Thus saying, I began to undo the bed-cord. I threw one end
of it over a small beam projecting above the window, fastened it
there, and made a slip-knot at the other end. Then I mounted
on the bed, and thus elevated for my own destruction, put my
head into the noose and kicked away my support with one foot;
so that the noose, tightened about my throat by the strain of my
weight, might stop my breath. But the rope, which was old and
rotten, broke in two; and falling from aloft, I tumbled heavily
upon Socrates, who was lying close by, and rolled with him on
the floor.
Lo and behold! at that very instant the porter burst into
the room, bawling out, “Where are you, you who were in such
monstrous haste to be off at midnight, and now lie snoring, rolled
up in the bed-clothes ? »
At these words — whether awakened by my fall or by the
rasping voice of the porter, I know not — Socrates was the first
to start up; and he exclaimed, “Evidently travelers have good
reason for detesting these hostlers. This nuisance here, breaking
in without being asked, - most likely to steal something, - has
waked me out of a sound sleep by his outrageous bellowing. ”
On hearing him speak I jumped up briskly, in an ecstasy
of unhoped-for joy:-“Faithfulest of porters,” I exclaimed, “my
## p. 607 (#645) ############################################
LUCIUS APULEIUS
607
friend, my own father, and my brother,- behold him whom you,
in your drunken fit, falsely accuse me of having murdered. ”
So saying, I embraced Socrates, and was for loading him with
kisses; but he repulsed me with considerable violence. “Get out
with you! ” he cried. Sorely confused, I trumped up some absurd
story on the spur of the moment, to give another turn to the
conversation, and taking him by the right hand-
“Why not be off,” said I, “and enjoy the freshness of the
morning on our journey? ”
So I took my bundle, and having paid the innkeeper for our
night's lodging, we started on our road.
We had gone some little distance, and now, everything being
illumined by the beams of the rising sun, I keenly and attentively
examined that part of my companion's neck into which I had seen
the sword plunged.
«Foolish man,” said I to myself, buried in your cups, you
certainly have had a most absurd dream. Why, look: here's Soc-
rates, safe, sound, and hearty. Where is the wound? Where is
the sponge? Where is the scar of a gash so deep and so recent ? »
Addressing myself to him, I remarked, “No wonder the doc.
tors say that hideous and ominous dreams come only to people
stuffed with food and liquor. My own case is a good instance.
I went beyond moderation in my drinking last evening, and have
passed a wretched night full of shocking and dreadful visions, so
that I still fancy myself spattered and defiled with human gore. ”
“It is not gore,” he replied with a smile, “that you are
sprinkled with. And yet in my sleep I thought my own throat
was being cut, and felt some pain in my neck, and fancied that
my very heart was being plucked out. Even now I am quite
faint; my knees tremble; I stagger as I go, and feel in want of
some food to hearten me up. ”
“Look,” cried I, here is breakfast all ready for you. ” So
saying, I lifted my wallet from my shoulders, handed him some
bread and cheese, and said, "Let us sit down near that plane-
tree. ” We did so, and I helped myself to some refreshment.
While looking at him more closely, as he was eating with a
voracious appetite, I saw that he was faint, and of a hue like
boxwood. His natural color, in fact, had so forsaken him, that
as I recalled those nocturnal furies to my frightened imagination,
the very first piece of bread I put in my mouth, though exceed-
ingly small, stuck in the middle of my throat and would pass
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LUCIUS APULEIUS
neither downward nor upward. Besides, the number of people
passing along increased my fears; for who would believe that one
of two companions could meet his death except at the hands of
the other?
Presently, after having gorged himself with food, he began to
be impatient for some drink, for he had bolted the larger part of
an excellent cheese. Not far from the roots of the plane-tree a
gentle stream flowed slowly along, like a placid lake, rivaling
silver or crystal.
“Look,” said I: "drink your fill of the water of this stream,
bright as the Milky Way. ”
He arose, and, wrapping himself in his cloak, with his knees
doubled under him, knelt down upon the shelving bank and bent
greedily toward the water. Scarcely had he touched its surface
with his lips, when the wound in his throat burst open and the
sponge rolled out, a few drops of blood with it; and his lifeless
body would have fallen into the river had I not laid hold of one
of his feet, and dragged him with great difficulty and labor to
the top of the bank. There, having mourned my hapless com-
rade as much as there was time, I buried him in the sandy soil
that bordered the stream. Then, trembling and terror-stricken, I
fled through various unfrequented places; and as though guilty of
homicide, abandoned my country and my home, embraced a vol.
untary exile, and now dwell in Ætolia, where I have married
another wife.
Translated for (A Library of the World's Best Literature. )
THE AWAKENING OF CUPID
[The radical difference in the constituent parts of the Golden Ass) is
startling, and is well illustrated by the selection given previously and that
which follows. The story of the drummer) comports exactly with the mod-
ern idea of realism in fiction: a vivid and unflinching picture of manners and
morals, full of broad coarse humor and worldly wit. The story of Cupid and
Psyche is the purest, daintiest, most poetic of fancies; in essence a fairy tale
that might be told of an evening by the fire-light in the second century or
the nineteenth, but embodying also a high and beautiful allegory, and treated
with a delicate art which is in extreme contrast with the body of the Golden
Ass. ) The difference is almost as striking as between Gray's lampoon on
“Jemmy Twitcher) and his Bard) or Elegy); or between Aristophanes's
revels in filth and his ecstatic soarings into the heavenliest regions of poetry.
The contrast is even more rasping when we remember that the tale is
not put into the mouth of a girl gazing dreamily into the glowing coals on
the hearth, or of some elegant reciter amusing a social group in a Roman
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LUCIUS APULEIUS
609
drawing-room or garden, but of a grizzled hag who is maid of all work in a
robbers' cave. She tells it to divert the mind of a lovely young bride held
for ransom. It begins like a modern fairy tale, with a great king and queen
who had «three daughters of remarkable beauty,” the loveliest being the
peerless Psyche. Even Venus becomes envious of the honors paid to Psyche's
charms, and summons Cupid to wing one of his shafts which shall cause her
«to be seized with the most burning love for the lowest of mankind, so as
to disgrace and ruin her. Cupid undertakes the task, but instead falls in
love with her himself. Meanwhile an oracle from Apollo, instigated by
Venus, dooms her to be sacrificed in marriage to some unknown aërial mon-
ster, who must find her alone on a naked rock. She is so placed, awaiting
her doom in terror; but the zephyrs bear her away to the palace of Love.
Cupid hides her there, lest Venus wreak vengeance on them both; and there,
half terrified but soon soothed, in the darkness of night she hears from Cupid
that he, her husband, is no monster, but the fairest of immortals. He will
not disclose his identity, however; not only so, but he tenderly warns her
that she must not seek to discover it, or even to behold him, till he gives
permission, unless she would bring hopeless disaster on both. Nor must she
confide in her two sisters, lest their unwisdom or sudden envy cause harm.
The simple-hearted and affectionate girl, however, in her craving for sym-
pathy, cannot resist the temptation to boast of her happiness to her sisters.
She invites them to pass a day in her magnificent new home, and tells con-
tradictory stories about her husband. Alas! they depart bitterly envious, and
plotting to make her ruin her own joy out of fear and curiosity. ]
“Wam
Hat are we to say, sister, (said one to the other] of the
monstrous lies of that silly creature ? At one time her
husband is a young man, with the down just showing
itself on his chin; at another he is of middle age, and his hair
begins to be silvered with gray.
You may depend upon
it, sister, either the wretch has invented these lies to deceive us,
or else she does not know herself how her husband looks. Which-
ever is the case, she must be deprived of these riches as soon as
possible. And yet, if she is really ignorant of her husband's
appearance, she must no doubt have married a god, and who knows
what will happen? At all events, if — which heaven forbid — she
does become the mother of a divine infant, I shall instantly hang
myself,
Meanwhile let us return to our parents, and devise
some scheme based on what we have just been saying. ”
The sisters, thus inflamed with jealousy, called on their par-
ents 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 wonted assistance of the
breeze, they descended swiftly to Psyche, and with tears squeezed
out by rubbing their eyelids, thus craftily addressed her:-
11-39
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LUCIUS APULEIUS
Happy indeed are you, and fortunate in your very ignorance
of so heavy a misfortune. There you sit, without a thought
of danger; while we, your sisters, who watch over your interests
with the most vigilant care, are in anguish at your lost condi-
tion. For we have learned as truth, and as sharers in your
sorrows and misfortunes cannot 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. Remember the
Pythian Oracle. Besides, a great many of the husbandmen, who
hunt all round the country, and ever so many of the neighbors,
have observed him returning home from his feeding-place in the
evening. All declare, too, that he will not long continue to
pamper you with delicacies, but will presently devour you. Will
you listen to us, who are so anxious for your precious safety, and
avoiding death, live with us secure from danger, or die hor-
ribly? But if you are fascinated by your country home, or by
the endearments of a serpent, we have at all events done our
duty toward 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
an almost lifeless voice, she faltered out these broken words:-
“Dearest sisters, you have acted toward 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 in-
vented 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 undertone by night, and have to bear
with a husband of an unknown appearance, and one that has
an utter aversion to the light of day. He may well, therefore,
be some monster or other. Besides, he threatens some shocking
misfortune as the consequence of indulging any curiosity to view
his features. So, then, if you are able to give any aid to your
sister in this perilous emergency, don't delay a moment. ”
»
(
[One of them replies:-)
«Since the ties of blood oblige us to disregard peril when
your safety is to be insured, we will tell you the only means
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LUCIUS APULEIUS
611
of safety. We have considered it over and over again. On
that side of the bed where you are used to lie, conceal a
very sharp razor; and also hide under the tapestry a lighted
lamp, well trimmed and full of oil. Make these preparations
with the utmost secrecy. After the monster has glided into bed
as usual, when he is stretched out at length, fast asleep and
breathing heavily, as you slide out of bed, go softly along with
bare feet and on tiptoe, and bring out the lamp from its hiding-
place; then having the aid of its light, raise your right hand,
bring down the weapon with all your might, and cut off the
head of the creature at the neck. Then we will bring you away
with all these things, and if you wish, will wed you to a human
creature like yourself. ”
[They then depart, fearing for themselves if they are near when the catas.
trophe happens. ]
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 wavered, and feared. She
hurried, she procrastinated; now she was bold, now tremulous;
now dubious, now agitated by rage; and what was the most
singular thing of all, in the same being she hated the beast
and loved the husband. Nevertheless, as the evening drew to a
close, she hurriedly prepared the instruments of her enterprise.
The night came, and with it her husband. After he fell
asleep, Psyche, to whose weak body and spirit the cruel influence
of fate imparted unusual strength, uncovered the lamp, and
seized the knife with the courage of a man. But the instant
she advanced, she beheld the very gentlest and sweetest of all
creatures, even Cupid himself, the beautiful God of Love, there
fast asleep; at sight of whom, the joyous flame of the lamp
shone with redoubled vigor, and the sacrilegious dagger repented
the keenness of its edge.
But Psyche, losing the control of her senses, faint, deadly
pale, and trembling all over, 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 commission
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
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612
LUCIUS APULEIUS
1
gazing upon the beauty of those divine features. She looked
upon the genial locks of his golden head, teeming with ambrosial
perfume, the circling curls that strayed over his milk-white neck
and roseate cheeks, and fell gracefully entangled, some before
and some behind, causing the very light of the lamp itself to
flicker by their radiant splendor. On the shoulders of the 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 his bed lay his
bow, his quiver, and his arrows, the auspicious weapons of the
mighty god.
While with insatiable wonder and curiosity Psyche is exam-
ining 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 happening 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, 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
overpowering, the lamp, whether from treachery or baneful envy,
or because it longed to touch, and to kiss as it were, so beau-
tiful an object, spirted a drop of scalding oil from the summit of
its flame upon the right shoulder of the god.
The god,
thus scorched, sprang from the bed, and seeing the disgrace.
ful tokens of forfeited fidelity, started to fly away, without a
word, from the eyes and arms of his most unhappy 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.
Translation of Bohn Library, revised.
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