Fairy tales from far and near

by Katharine Pyle

Now Eros was very curious to see this beauty of beauties, and so, in invisible form, he visited the palace of Psyche’s father and went from room to room until he came to where she sat with her two sisters. They were all beautiful, but Psyche so far outshone the others that they seemed pale beside her.

No sooner had Eros looked upon her, than he fell deeply in love with her and determined to make her his bride. He therefore put it into her father’s mind to consult an oracle as to what should be done with Psyche, for already the King was fearful, lest her beauty bring down upon him the anger of the gods.

So the King traveled secretly to the temple of Phoebus at Miletus, and there he consulted the oracle; the oracle told him that Psyche must be taken to the top of a high mountain and there left to be devoured by a monster that the gods would send, and that in this way, and this way alone, could the whole kingdom be saved from destruction.

When the King heard this, his heart was heavy within him, for of all his daughters Psyche was the dearest to him, so he returned home very sorrowful. The two older sisters cared little for his sadness, but Psyche, who loved him tenderly, was grieved, and she went to him and said, “My father, why are you so sorrowful and downcast?”

For a long time the King would not tell her what it was that troubled him, but she was so urgent in her questions that at last he could keep silence no longer, and he said, “My daughter, thy beauty is so great that it has drawn upon us the anger of the gods, and even Aphrodite herself is jealous of thee. The oracle at Miletus has spoken and has told me that I and thou and thy sisters and all the city with us will be destroyed, unless a certain sacrifice is made.”

Then Psyche asked him what was the sacrifice the gods demanded, and her father answered, “Thou thyself, Psyche, art the sacrifice.”

When Psyche heard that, she cried aloud with terror, but presently she asked her father how she was to be sacrificed, and he told her what else the oracle had said, that she was to be taken out to a high mountain and left there to be devoured by a monster the gods would send.

Then Psyche wept bitterly, but at last she said, “It is better that one should perish than that all should be destroyed together. So let the sacrifice be made, even as the oracle has directed.”

Then, soon afterward, Psyche was made ready; she was dressed as a bride, in shining garments, and hung about with jewels, and at the time set by the oracle, she was taken out and left alone upon the mountain. None might stay to comfort her or to watch with her for the coming of the monster.

But no sooner was she alone than Eros caused her to fall into a deep sleep, and while she slept he carried her away to a secret palace he had prepared for her. All about the palace were gardens, with shining temples and fountains and winding paths and trees that bore all sorts of strange and delicious fruits. The palace itself was very beautiful. The walls were of ivory and cedar, and the roof was of gold. The ceilings were of shining blue, set with precious stones like stars, and the pillars that supported it were also of gold, wrought with shapes of flowers and leaves and birds; and the floor was of stones of beautiful colors set in strange patterns.