Alice.. Well, she is a perfect darling. But you don't see her in the first scene. Now Psyche, who is the Soul, comes down ... whenever a baby's born, of course, a little scrap of Psyche is sent down! ... But this is how the story goes ... That she comes down from Mount Olympus where the gods live to adventure on the earth. And in the Harlequinade she's Columbine, but that only means a dove, and a dove is the symbol of the soul. And anybody who is fond of flowers knows that, because if you look at Columbine flowers you can see that they are made of doves with their wings out. And so she ought always to be dressed in blue.
Uncle Edward.. What's that?
Alice.. Well, I like blue. She's a restless adventurous person, and she's always running away from the other gods. For you see the Soul has need of human love, and, of course, gods that are nothing but gods can't appreciate that. Now when she gets to earth her wings drop off. And when she tries to get back to the gods, she can't until she finds another love as great as hers. For two souls that love become more than human; and when their earthly course is run (as Doctor Watts says), it gives them wings again, and back they can fly.
Uncle Edward.. Pretty.
Alice.. But ... to resume. Mercury, who used to spend weekends in Athens and Corinth and those places, was sent to try and find her. Mercury has to get old Charon, who is the ferryman for rowing souls over the Styx ... which is a river all the dead have to cross ... and my aunt, who's dead and full of fun ... oh, I'm sure she still is full of fun ... always said it was the most interesting place in spiritual geography.
Uncle Edward.. Steady! Steady!
Alice.. You told me she said so.
Uncle Edward.. In private. Mercury gets Charon...?
Alice.. To ferry him across. And on the earth side they meet ...
Uncle Edward.. Not so fast.