Children of the Dawn : Old Tales of GreeceBuckley, E. F. (Elsie Finnimore)
General
Children of the Dawn : Old Tales of Greece
Buckley, E. F. (Elsie Finnimore)
Mythology, Greek -- Juvenile literature
The next day, when Psyche was left alone, she went out into the valley
to see whether she could hear her sisters calling her. And sure
enough, she had not gone far, when high up above her head, from the
top of the cliff, she heard her name, "Psyche, O Psyche! where art
thou?" At this she was overjoyed,
"O gentle Zephyr!" she called, "O fair west wind! waft, oh, waft my
sisters to me!"
Scarcely had she said the words than she saw her sisters gently borne
down from the cliff above and set upon the ground beside her. She fell
upon their necks and kissed them.
"Ah, my dear sisters," she cried, "how happy am I to see you! Welcome
to my new home. See, I am not tortured, as you thought. Nay, my life
is bliss, as you shall see for yourselves. Come, enter in with me."
And she took them by the hand and led them through the golden gates.
The ministering voices played soft music in the air, and a rich feast
was spread before them. All through the palace Psyche led them, and
showed them all her treasures, and brought out her choicest jewels,
and bade them choose out and keep as many as they wished.
All this time, though there was no corner of the palace that she kept
hidden from them, she spoke no word of her mysterious husband. At
length they could contain their curiosity no longer, and one made bold
to ask her,
"Psyche, thou livest not here alone, of a surety. Yet where is thy
lord? All thy treasures hast thou shown us, but him, the giver of
all, we have not seen. Who is he, then? Surely he, whom the winds and
bodiless voices obey, must be a god, and no mortal man. Tell us of
him, we pray thee."
And Psyche remembered her husband's warning.
"My lord," she said, "is a huntsman bold, and over hill and dale he
rides this day after the swift-footed stag. As fair as the dawn is he,
and the first down of youth is on his cheek. All through the hours of
sunlight he goeth forth to the chase, and at eventime he returneth to
me."
It was now close on night, and the shadows fell long across the cool
green lawns of the garden. Psyche bethought her that it was high time
for her sisters to go, before they could ply her with questions. So,
kissing them farewell, and sending many a loving message to the king
her father, she called on Zephyr to waft them away to the top of the
cliff.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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