This is a chapter of Evergreen Stories by W. M. L. Hutchinson. It includes the following stories: King Midas and His Strange Adventures — Alcestis, the Noble Wife — The Real Helen — Cupid and Psyche — The Vision of Er
The next morning, Psyche’s sisters came again to the mountaintop, for somehow it was borne in upon their minds that they should find out what had become of her, although they had sought in vain for any trace of her the day before. But great was their astonishment, as they began lamenting aloud and dolefully crying out their lost sister’s name, to hear her voice calling from far below:
“I am here, dearest ones! Here is your Psyche! Do not weep any more, for all’s well with me.”
Do you love classics? Are you interested in Latin? Would you like to receive cool emails about that stuff? I’m quite sure you would: join the newsletter! 📧
And with that, before they knew where they were, Zephyrus caught up the two of them and carried them gently down into the valley, and Psyche ran into their arms, laughing for joy. And all three embraced and kissed and greeted each other a hundred times over. Never was such a happy meeting; the two proud princesses forgot their past ill will for the moment and shared in Psyche’s gladness.
Then she told them she was married, and said, “Come, sisters, come and see my house, and we will make good cheer.”
But when she brought them into the palace and showed them all the treasures there; when they heard the voices of her troop of unseen servants and saw she was waited on like a queen; when they had bathed luxuriously and eaten their fill of dainties fit for the gods — they were ready to burst with envy.
And the eldest, being by nature very curious, began to ask Psyche who her husband was, and of what rank, and how he came to have such a magnificent house.
But Psyche remembered his warning, and answered hurriedly, “Oh, he is a young man with flaxen hair — his great delight is hunting on the hills, so he is seldom at home in the daytime.”
And in dread of being caught tripping if she were questioned further, she durst not let her sisters stay any longer, but filled their laps with gold, silver, and jewels, and called Zephyrus to carry them away.
As they took their way homeward from the mountain, the two princesses could not contain their rage and envy.
“Well, to be sure,” began the eldest, “it is a cruel thing that yonder chit of a girl should have such luck, while you and I, her elders and betters, are mere beggars and nobodies compared to her. Little simpleton, why should she have all that huge wealth, that she has not sense enough to use properly? You saw, did you not, sister, what was in the house — what heaps of jewels, what glittering robes, and the very floor we trod on made of gems? Why, one would almost think she has got a god for her husband; and I am sure she puts on the airs of a goddess — giving her orders to those voices, and to the winds of heaven! Anyway, if she spoke the truth, her husband is young, and it seems she can do just as she likes. So there’s Psyche, the happiest woman alive — while poor I am married to a man older than my father, who is as bald as a coot and as weak as a baby, and shuts me up all day in the house.”
Classicsness 🎙️ the podcast about Classics
Subscribe gratis on your favorite platform and get the new episodes pushed right to your device as soon as they’re published!
Right now, we’re telling myths for all audiences!
“And I am worse off still,” said the other sister, “for my husband is so deformed and crippled with gout that I might as well be without one, for all the good he is to me. Nay, ’tis a servant, not a wife, I am to him; would you believe it, I have to rub and bandage his gouty fingers myself, and soil my delicate, white hands with nasty ointment and dirty rags! And so you have got a tyrant too, my poor dear? Well, when I think how ill-used we both are, I cannot abide to see that hussy Psyche’s good luck. And she so puffed up with pride, too! Pray, did you notice how arrogantly she behaved to us? Showing off her treasures so boastfully, and throwing a little gold into our laps as if she were giving alms to beggars, and then my lady is tired of our company and orders us to be blown away! As true as I live, I will strip the minx of all her grandeur — and if you are of the same mind, sister, take my advice, and let us tell nobody, not even our parents, that we have seen her. For it takes the gilt off good fortune if nobody knows you have got it; so to begin with, we will hold our tongues about Psyche’s, just to teach her that her sisters are not to be looked down upon for nothing. But now we must go home to our own poor houses; till we have thought out some plan to ruin the proud upstart.”
So these two wicked women agreed together, and they hid away the treasure that Psyche had given them and came before their parents feigning bitter grief. When the old king and queen saw them still weeping and lamenting and tearing their hair, it redoubled their own sorrow; but little cared the hard-hearted princesses. Filled with malice and envy, they bade their unhappy parents farewell and took ship for their homes; and on the voyage, they talked of nothing else but how they might contrive the downfall and death of their sister.