The Myth of Cupid and Psyche
The Myth of Cupid and Psyche
“Beauty is a curse ,” Psyche thought as she looked over the cliff’s edge where she’d been abandoned by her father.
She’d been born with the physical perfection so complete that she was worshipped as a new incarnation of Venus, the goddess of love.
But real-life human lovers were too intimidated even to approach her.
When her father asked for guidance from the Oracle of Apollo, the god of light, reason, and prophecy .
He was told to abandon his daughter on a rocky crag, where she would marry a cruel and savage serpent-like winged evil .
Alone on the crag, Psyche felt Zephyr the West Windgently lifting her into the air.
It set her down before a palace.
" You are home ," she heard an unseen voice say.
“Your husband awaits you in the bedroom, if you dare to meet him.”
She was brave enough, Psyche told herself.
The bedroom was so dark that she couldn’t see her husband.
But he didn’t feel serpent-like at all.
His skin was soft, and his voice and manner were gentle.
She asked him who he was, but he told her this was the one question he could never answer.
If she loved him, she would not need to know.
His visits continued night after night .
Before long, Psyche was pregnant.
She rejoiced, but was also conflicted .
How could she raise her baby with a man she’d never seen?
That night, Psyche approached her sleeping husband holding an oil lamp.
What she found was the god Cupid who sent gods and humans lusting after each other with the pinpricks of his arrows.
Psyche dropped her lamp, burning Cupid with hot oil.
He said he’d been in love with Psyche ever since his jealous mother, Venus, asked him to embarrass the young woman by pricking her with an arrow.
But taken with Psyche’s beauty, Cupid used the arrow on himself.
He didn’t believe, however, that gods and humans could love as equals.
Now that she knew his true form, their hopes for happiness were dashed, so he flew away.
Psyche was left in despair until the unseen voice returned and told her that it was indeed possible for her and Cupid to love each other as equals.
Encouraged, she set out to find him.
But Venus intercepted Psyche and said she and Cupid could only wed if she completed a series
of impossible tasks.
First, Psyche was told to sort a huge, messy pile of seeds in a single night.
Just as she was abandoning hope , an ant colony took pity on her and helped with the work.
Successfully passing the first trial, Psyche next had to bring Venus the fleece of the golden sheep, who had a reputation for disemboweling stray adventurers, but a river god showed her how to collect the fleece the sheep had snagged on briars , and she succeeded.
Finally, Psyche had to travel to the Underworld and convince Proserpina, queen of the dead, to put a drop of her beauty in a box for Venus.
Once again, the unseen voice came to Psyche’s aide.
It told her to bring barley cakes for Cerberus, the guard dog to the Underworld and coins to pay the boatman, Charon to ferry her across the river Styx .
With her third and final task complete, Psyche returned to the land of the living.
Just outside Venus’s palace, she opened the box of Proserpina’s beauty, hoping to keep some for herself.
But the box was filled with sleep, not beauty, and Psyche collapsed in the road.
Cupid, now recovered from his wounds, flew to his sleeping bride.
He told her he’d been wrong and foolish.
Her fearlessness in the face of the unknown proved that she was more than his equal .
Cupid gave Psyche amborsia , the nectar of the gods, making her immortal .
Shortly after, Psyche bore their daughter.
They named her Pleasure, and she, Cupid, and Psyche, whose name means soul, have been complicating people’s love lives ever since.
“美貌是一种 诅咒 ，”普绪刻望着悬崖边缘，心中想道。她就是在此处被父亲遗弃的。
她生来便拥有极致的美貌，被人们当作爱神维纳斯的新 化身 来崇拜。
但现实生活中的凡人甚至都不敢接近她。
当她的父亲向光明、理性与 预言 之神阿波罗的神谕寻求指引时。
他被告知要将女儿遗弃在一块岩石峭壁上，在那里她将嫁给一条 残忍野蛮、长着翅膀的蛇形怪物 。
独自待在峭壁上时，普绪刻感到西风之神泽费罗斯 轻轻地 将她托举到空中。
它把她放在一座宫殿前。
“ 你到家了 ，”她听到一个看不见的声音说道。
“你的丈夫在卧室等你，要是你敢去见他的话。”
普绪刻告诉自己，她有足够的勇气。
卧室里非常昏暗，她看不见自己的丈夫。
但他一点也没有蛇的感觉。
他的皮肤很柔软，声音和举止都很温柔。
她问他是谁，但他告诉她这是他永远无法回答的一个问题。
如果她爱他，就不需要知道。
他一夜又一夜地前来。
不久之后，普绪刻怀孕了。
她很高兴，但也 矛盾重重 。
她怎么能和一个从未见过的男人一起抚养孩子呢？
那天晚上，普绪刻拿着一盏油灯走近熟睡的丈夫。
她发现的是爱神丘比特，他用箭尖让众神和人类彼此 渴望 。
普绪刻失手掉落油灯，滚烫的油烫伤了丘比特。
他说，自从他嫉妒的母亲维纳斯让他用箭 刺痛 这位年轻女子，使她难堪以来，他就爱上了普绪刻。
但丘比特被普绪刻的美貌吸引，结果却把箭射向了自己。
然而，他不相信神和人能平等相爱。
现在她知道了他的真实模样，他们对幸福的希望破灭了，于是他飞走了。
普绪刻陷入了绝望，直到那个看不见的声音再次出现，告诉她她和丘比特确实有可能平等地相爱。
受到鼓舞，她出发去寻找他。
但维纳斯 拦住 了普绪刻，并说她和丘比特只有完成一系列不可能的任务才能成婚。
首先，普绪刻被告知要在一个晚上把一大堆杂乱的种子分类整理好。
就在她快要放弃希望的时候 ，一群蚂蚁 同情 她，帮她完成了这项工作。
普绪刻成功通过了第一项考验，接下来她必须给维纳斯带回金毛羊的 羊毛 。这只羊以 剖腹 流浪 冒险者而闻名，但一位河神告诉她如何收集羊挂在 荆棘 上的羊毛，她成功了。
最后，普绪刻必须前往冥界，说服冥后普罗塞尔皮娜给维纳斯一滴她的美貌装在一个盒子里。
那个看不见的声音再次来帮助普绪刻。
它告诉她要给冥界的看门狗刻耳柏洛斯带大麦饼，还要给船夫卡戎硬币，好让他渡她过 冥河 。
完成了第三项也是最后一项任务后，普绪刻回到了人间。
就在维纳斯的宫殿外，她打开了装有普罗塞尔皮娜美貌的盒子，希望能给自己留一些。
但盒子里装的是睡眠，而不是美貌，普绪刻倒在了路上。
丘比特，现在伤口已经痊愈，飞向了他熟睡的新娘。
他告诉她，他错了，而且很愚蠢。
她 面对未知时的无畏证明 了 她与他不相上下 。
丘比特给了普绪刻 神食 ，即众神的 琼浆玉液 ，使她 长生不老 。
不久之后，普绪刻生下了他们的女儿。
他们给她取名为快乐，从那以后，她、丘比特和名字意为灵魂的普绪刻就一直在扰乱人们的爱情生活。
Vocabulary, Phrases and Sentences
| Word | Chinese Definition | Phonetic Symbol |
|---|---|---|
| curse | 诅咒 | |
| incarnation | 化身 | |
| intimidate | 恐吓 | |
| prophecy | 语言 | |
| savage | 野蛮的 | |
| serpent | 蛇 | |
| winge | 翅膀 | |
| windgently | 微风轻拂 | |
| night after night | 一夜又一夜 | |
| lust after | 渴望 | |
| pinprick | 点 | |
| prick | 扎 | |
| intercepte | 拦截 | |
| just as she was abandoning hope | 就在她放弃希望的时候 | |
| take pity | 可怜 | |
| fleece | 羊毛 | |
| disembowel | 去内脏 | |
| stray | 偏离 | |
| snag | 障碍 | |
| briar | 多刺野灌木 | |
| styx | 冥河 | |
| fearlessness in the face of the unknown | 面对未知的无畏 | |
| she was more than his equal | 她比他强 | |
| amborsia | 琥珀色 | |
| nectar | 花蜜 | |
| immortal | 不朽的 |