A Book of Myths, by Jean Lang - Umnet

etween the twilight and the dawn was a thing to shame her, a monster
to be shunned of men.
"What, then, shall I do?" piteously she asked of her sisters. And the
women, pitilessly, and well content, answered:
"Provide thyself with a lamp and a knife sharp enough to slay the man
or monster. And when this creature to whom, to thy undying shame,
thou belongest, sleeps sound, slip from thy couch and in the rays of the
lamp have courage to look upon him in all his horror. Then, when thou
hast seen for thyself that what we say is truth, with thy knife swiftly
slay him. Thus shalt thou free thyself from the pitiless doom meted out
by the gods."
Shaking with sobs, Psyche made answer:
"I love him so!... I love him so!"
And her sisters turned upon her with furious scorn and well-simulated
wrath.
"Shameless one!" they cried; "and does our father's daughter confess to
a thing so unutterable! Only by slaying the monster canst thou hope to
regain thy place amongst the daughters of men."
They left her when evening fell, carrying with them their royal gifts.
And while she awaited the coming of her lord, Psyche, provided with
knife and lamp, crouched with her head in her hands, a lily broken by a
cruel storm. So glad was Eros to come back to her, to find her safely
there--for greatly had he feared the coming of that treacherous
pair--that he did not note her silence. Nor did the dark night show him
that her eyes in her sad face looked like violets in a snow wreath. He
wanted only to hold her safely in his arms, and there she lay, passive
and still, until sleep came to lay upon him an omnipotent hand. Then,
very gently, she withdrew herself from his embrace, and stole to the
place where her lamp was hidden. Her limbs shook under her as she
brought it to the couch where he lay asleep; her arm trembled as she
held it aloft.