A Book of Myths, by Jean Lang - Umnet

which the fame of the fair Psyche had spread, that the mighty goddess
Aphrodite had declared herself the enemy of the princess. Therefore
none dared seek her in marriage, and although many a noble youth
sighed away his heart for love of her, she remained in her father's
palace like an exquisite rose whose thorns make those who fain would
have it for their own, fear to pluck it from the parent stem. Her sisters
married, and her father marvelled why so strange a thing should come
about and why the most beautiful by far of his three daughters should
remain unwed.
At length, laden with royal gifts, an embassy was sent by the king to
the oracle of Apollo to inquire what might be the will of the dwellers
on Olympus concerning his fairest daughter. In a horror of anxiety the
king and his queen and Psyche awaited the return of the ambassadors.
And when they returned, before ever a word was spoken, they knew
that the oracle had spoken Psyche's doom.
"No mortal lover shall fair Psyche know," said the oracle. "For
bridegroom she shall have a monster that neither man nor god can resist.
On the mountain top he awaits her coming. Woe unutterable shall come
to the king and to all the dwellers in his land if he dares to resist the
unalterable dictum of the deathless gods!"
"... Of dead corpses shalt thou be the king, And stumbling through the
dark land shalt thou go, Howling for second death to end thy woe."
William Morris.
Only for a little while did the wretched king strive to resist the decrees
of fate. And in her own chamber, where so short a time before the little
princess had known the joy of something inexpressible--something
most exquisite--intangible--unknown--she sat, like a flower broken by
the ruthless storm, sobbing pitifully, dry-eyed, with sobs that strained
her soul, for the shameful, hideous fate that the gods had dealt her.
All night, until her worn-out body could no longer feel, her worn-out
mind think, and kind sleep came to bring her oblivion, Psyche faced the
horror for the sake of her father and of his people, that she knew she