“And Schippeitaro does not know!
And Schippeitaro does not know!”
Nearer and nearer they came to the chest. Almost they brushed against it as they whirled about it. Then, with a cry, they bounded at it, and tore it open.
At once, out from the box leaped Schippeitaro. The demons shrieked at the sight of him and the great hound rushed at them and tore them. He seized the King Demon by the throat and shook him till the life was quite shaken out of him. Then he flew at the other cats, and when they tried to escape out through the doors or windows, the youth stood there with his sword and drove them back.
Many of the demons did Schippeitaro destroy that night; many of them he scattered over the floor in pieces, and those who escaped fled so far away that they were never seen in that neighborhood again.
But the youth returned to the house of the parents of the maiden and asked them for her hand in marriage, for he had loved her from the first moment he had seen her, because of her beauty, and her gentle air. Gladly her parents agreed to give her to him, and the Prince himself came to the marriage, bringing with him gifts both rich and rare, for he had heard of the bravery and wit the youth had shown in ridding his people of the demons who had distressed them, and he brought Schippeitaro with him as a welcome guest.
After that the youth and his young wife returned to his own home, and there they lived happy forever after, honored and admired by all who knew them.
EROS AND PSYCHE
A Greek Tale
There was once a Princess named Psyche who was so beautiful that no one on earth could compare with her in fairness. When she went abroad the people gathered in crowds to gaze upon her, and children strewed flowers before her and offered her garlands, as though she were a goddess.
Now when Aphrodite, herself the Goddess of Beauty, heard of this, she became very jealous of Psyche, and she called to her Eros, her son who was the God of Love, and bade him cause Psyche to fall in love with the ugliest and wickedest man in all the world.
“In this way she shall be punished for her pride and for her beauty,” said Aphrodite, who was herself most proud and beautiful.