Cupid and Psyche

tunc se protinus ad Iovis regias arces dirigit

Then Venus directed herself at once towards the royal citadel of Jupiter

et petitu superbo

and with an arrogant request,

Mercuri, dei vocalis, operae necessariam usuram postulat.

demanded the essential loan of the services of Mercury, the loud-voiced god.

nec rennuit Iovis caerulum supercilium:

Nor did Jupiter’s dark brow deny her:

tunc ovans ilico, comitante etiam Mercurio,

then in triumph immediately, with Mercury also accompanying her

Venus caelo demeat

Venus descended from the heavens,

eique sollicite serit verba:

and she anxiously sowed words for him:

‘Frater Arcadi, scis nempe sororem tuam Venerem

“Arcadian brother, you certainly know that your sister Venus

sine Mercuri praesentia nil unquam fecisse,

has accomplished nothing ever without the assistance of Mercury

nec te praeterit utique quanto iam tempore

and it has not escaped you certainly for how long a time already

delitescentem ancillam nequiverim repperire:

I have been unable to obtain my hiding slave-girl:

nil ergo superest, quam

therefore, nothing remains than

tuo praeconio praemium investigationis publicitus edicere.

to announce publicly a reward for a search via your proclamation.

fac ergo mandatum matures meum

Therefore, see to it that you hasten [to fulfil] my instruction

et indicia, qui possit agnosci, manifeste designes,

and that you clearly describe proofs whereby she can be recognised

ne, si quis occultationis illicitae crimen subierit, ignorantiae se possit excusatione defendere’;

so that, if anyone is placed under a charge of illegally concealing her, he might not be able to defend himself with the plea of ignorance.”

et simul dicens libellum ei porrigit,

And at the same time as saying [this], she handed him a leaflet

ubi Psyches nomen continebatur et cetera.

on which Psyche’s name and her other details were being contained.

quo facto protinus domum secessit.

After this had been done, she at once withdrew home.

nec Mercurius omisit obsequium:

And Mercury did not disregard his deference:

nam per omnium ora populorum passim discurrens

for dashing about through the faces of all the peoples everywhere

sic mandatae praedicationis munus exsequebatur:

in this way he was carrying out his duty of the announcement, which had been instructed:

‘si quis a fuga retrahere vel occultam demonstrare poterit

“If anyone will be able to bring back from her flight or point out the hiding place

fugitivam regis filiam, Veneris ancillam, nomine Psychen,

of the fugitive daughter of a king, Venus’ slave-girl, named Psyche,

conveniat retro metas Murtias Mercurium praedicatorem,

let him meet the herald Mercury behind the Murtian turning posts,

accepturus indicivae nomine ab ipsa Venere septem savia suavia

to receive by way of reward from Venus herself seven sweet kisses

et unum blandientis appulsu linguae longe mellitum.’

and one kiss deeply honeyed by the thrust of her pleasing tongue.”

ad hunc modum pronuntiante Mercurio

As Mercury was making his announcement after this fashion,

tanti praemii cupido certatim omnium mortalium studium adrexerat:

a desire for such a great reward had excited the zeal of all mortals in competition:

quae res nunc vel maxime sustulit Psyches omnem cunctationem.

this situation now removed all of Psyche’s hesitation as much as possible.

iamque fores eius dominae proximanti

And now as Psyche was nearing the doors of her mistress,

occurrit una de famulitione Veneris, nomine Consuetudo,

one of the house-servants of Venus, called Habit, came up to her

statimque, quantum maxime potuit, exclamat:

and at once as loudly as she could, she cried out:

‘tandem, ancilla nequissima, dominam habere te scire coepisti?

“At last, most vile slave-girl, have you begun to realise that you possess a mistress?

an pro cetera morum tuorum temeritate

Or, as one might expect from other recklessness of your past-behaviour,

istud quoque nescire te fingis,

do you pretend that you do not know that fact also,

quantos labores circa tuas inquisitiones sustinuerimus?

namely how much effort we have employed concerning our searches for you?

sed bene, quod meas potissimum manus incidisti

But it is well that you fell into my hands before all

et inter Orci cancros iam ipsos haesisti,

and that you have become stuck between the very claws of Orcus now,

datura scilicet actutum tantae contumaciae poenas.’

since of course you will pay the penalty without delay for such great stubbornness.”

et audaciter in capillos eius immissa manu

And after her hand had boldly been laid upon Psyche’s tresses,

trahebat eam nequaquam renitentem.

she was dragging her, who was in no way struggling.

quam ubi primum inductam oblatamque sibi conspexit Venus,

As soon as Venus caught sight of Psyche led in and presented to her,

laetissimum cachinnum extollit,

she raised a most gleeful cackle,

et qualem solent furenter irati

and of the sort which angry people are accustomed to furiously make,

caputque quatiens et ascalpens aurem dexteram

and shaking her head and scratching her right ear,

‘tandem’ inquit ‘dignata es socrum tuam salutare?

she said: “Have you finally deigned to greet your mother-in-law?

an potius maritum, qui tuo vulnere periclitatur, intervisere venisti?

Or rather have you come to visit your husband, who is endangered by the wound [inflicted] by you?

sed esto secura;

But let her be untroubled.

iam enim excipiam te ut bonam nurum condecet’:

For I shall now welcome you as befits a good daughter-in-law.”

et ‘ubi sunt’ inquit ‘Sollicitudo atque Tristities ancillae meae?’

And she said; “Where are my slave-girls, Anxiety and Sorrow?”

quibus intro vocatis torquendam tradidit eam.

She handed Psyche over to these attendants, who had been called within, to be tortured.

at illae sequentes erile praeceptum,

But they, following their mistress’ instruction,

Psychen misellam flagellis afflictam et ceteris tormentis excruciatam iterum dominae conspectui reddunt.

returned wretched Psyche, after she had been afflicted with whips and tormented by other tortures, once more to the sight of their mistress.

tunc rursus sublato risu Venus ‘et ecce’ inquit

Then, after a laugh had been raised once more, Venus said; “And look

‘nobis turgidi ventris sui lenocinio commovet miserationem,

she is trying to evoke pity in us by the enticement of her swollen stomach

unde me praeclara subole aviam beatam scilicet faciat.

from where she might make me a blessed grandmother via a glorious offspring, naturally!

felix vero ego, quae in ipso aetatis meae flore vocabor avia,

How lucky I am, indeed, who in the very flower of my age will be called grandmother

et vilis ancillae filius nepos Veneris audiet.

and the son of a vile slave-girl will be called grandson of Venus.

quamquam inepta ego frustra filium dicam:

Although foolish, I shall call him son in vain.

impares enim nuptiae,

For a marriage between unequal parties

et praetera in villa sine testibus, et patre non consentiente factae

and one fashioned besides in a country villa, without witnesses and with no father consenting

legitimae non possunt videri,

cannot be viewed as legitimate

ac per hoc spurius iste nascetur,

and by this reason that one will be born a bastard,

si tamen partum omnino perferre te patiemur.’

if moreover we suffer you to carry the child to term altogether.”

his editis involat eam vestemque plurifariam diloricat,

Once these things had been solemnly uttered, Venus flew at Psyche and tore apart her clothing extensively

capilloque discisso et capite conquassato graviter affligit,

and with her hair torn out and her head boxed violently she seriously threw her to the floor

et accepto frumento et hordeo et milio et papavere et cicere et lente et faba

and having taken up wheat and barley and millet and poppy-seed and chickpea and lentil and bean

commixtisque acervatim confusis in unum grumulum sic ad illam:

and having mixed them together and jumbled them without order into one pile, she spoke to Psyche as follows;

‘videris enim mihi tam deformis ancilla

“Now you seem to me, as so ugly a slave girl

nullo alio sed tantum sedulo ministerio amatores tuos promereri:

to win favours of your lovers by no other means but only with diligent service:

iam ergo et ipsa frugem tuam periclitabor.

now therefore I myself also will put to the test your perseverance.

discerne seminum istorum passivam congeriem

Sort out the random heap of these grains

singulisque granis rite dispositis atque seiugatis

and with individual grains correctly arranged and separated,

ante istam vesperam opus expeditum approbato mihi.’

let the completed task be examined by me before this evening.”

sic assignato tantorum seminum cumulo ipsa cenae nuptiali concessit.

Thus, after the pile of so many seeds had been assigned as a task, Venus herself went off to a marriage feast.

nec Psyche manus admolitur inconditae illi et inextricabili moli,

But Psyche did not apply her hands to that disordered and impossible to disentangle chore

sed immanitate praecepti consternata silens obstupescit.

but, confounded by the sheer size of the undertaking, was silent and dumbfounded.

tunc formicula illa parvula atque ruricola,

Then that country-dweller, a tiny little ant,

certa difficultatis tantae laborisque,

aware of such great difficulty and effort,

miserta contubernalis magni dei

having taken pity upon the bed-fellow of the great god

socrusque saevitiam exsecrata

and having deplored the savagery of her mother-in-law,

discurrens naviter convocat corrogatque

dashing about diligently called together and summoned to an assembly

cunctam formicarum accolarum classem:

a whole army of local ants:

‘miseremini terrae omniparentis agiles alumnae,

“Let us take pity, nimble children of the all-mother, Earth,

miseremini et Amoris uxori, puellae lepidae, periclitanti prompta velocitate succurrite.’

let us take pity and run to help the charming girl, the wife of Amor, who is in danger, with eager speed.”

ruunt aliae superque aliae sepedum populorum undae summoque studio

Wave upon wave of the seven-footed nations rushed forward and with the greatest enthusiasm,

singulae granatim totum digerunt acervum

grain by grain apiece they organised the whole pile

separatimque distributis dissitisque generibus

and with the [different] types having been divided apart and distributed,

e conspectu perniciter abeunt.

they briskly vanished from view.

sed initio noctis e convivio nuptiali vino madens et fragrans balsama Venus remeat

But at the start of the night, Venus returned, dripping with wine from the wedding feast and fragrant with balsam

totumque revincta corpus rosis micantibus,

and her whole body wreathed with shining roses.

visaque diligentia miri laboris,

Once the diligence of Psyche’s amazing work had been witnessed,

‘ non tuum’ inquit ‘ nequissima, nec tuarum manuum istud opus sed

she said: “That is not your work, most vile one, nor the work of your hands but

illius, cui tuo, immo et ipsius malo placuisti’;

of that one, whose fancy you have taken, to your harm, and indeed, to his harm.”

et frusto cibarii panis ei proiecto

And after a crust of coarse bread had been tossed to Psyche,

cubitum facessit

Venus went away to bed.

interim Cupido solus

In the meantime, Cupid alone,

interioris domus unici cubiculi custodia clausus

shut up in a prison of a single room in the inside of the house

coercebatur acriter,

was being keenly restrained,