Apuleius's Golden Ass, as translated into English by Tony Kline (2013)
The Captive Woman: A group of thieves who were too poor for their own good, went off and captured a girl of a well off family. She was a beautiful girl who was scared, despite promises from the men that she would be unharmed. They simply wanted ransom money from her parents. The girl however, wept and wept. An old woman who was among the thieves tried to console the girl. She tried to explain that she had nothing to cry about. But the girl wept harder and harder until the old woman became sick of it, threatening her. This story is told from the point of view of a man turned into a donkey.
Her Dream: The girl begged the woman for forgiveness, as the reason that she was so upset was because it was her wedding day. She was to be married to her cousin, a man she was promised to at a very young age. The girl was crying because she had a dream that she was kidnapped out of the hands of her mother. No one fought for her, and her soon to be husband would live a life alone. That is until he was killed in her dream by one of the thieves. The woman told her not to take it seriously, and that she would tell her a story to make her feel better.
Psyche's Beauty: The story begins with a king and queen who had three beautiful girls, with the youngest being the most beautiful. People from all around would come to see the young lady. People didn't bother with seeing the temples and shrines of Venus any longer, as the gave offerings to the girls instead. Venus became jealous from the heavens and vowed to make the girl suffer for her beauty. She took her son Cupid to go and have her fall in love with the most awful of men. She told him to use his bow and arrow as she sweet talked him.
The Oracle of Apollo: Poor Psyche stayed forever adored, but loved by no suitor. Even her sisters got married to royalty, but she was alone. Her father went to Apollo to beg for a blessing, but instead cursed the girl to a fatal marriage. The girl stayed humble however, and we ready to face whatever she needed to. She was taken to the top of a cliff, only to be left by all with wedding flowers and a dress. She simply laid her head down in the grass, and waited.
The Magical Palace: When she woke, she saw beautiful crystal lake in front of a godly palace. She looked all around the outside and inside of the palace. Then a voice told her that this was all to be hers, that she could go to her bed to sleep. Then she could bathe before a meal. She did exactly this, and when she went to eat her feast, things just appeared before her. Again, she only heard voices and music, but no people were in sight.
The Mysterious Husband: She retired to bed, but knew that this evening would be different. Her unknown husband made love to her in the night, and left before the morning came. Meanwhile, her parents and sisters mourned the unfortunate thing that had happened to her. One day, the husband spoke to her. He told her that her sisters were going to come to the cliff to look for her, and she must ignore them. She felt that this was awful. She wept and wept, even when her husband came to her. She begged him to let her see them and give them gifts. He was swiftly persuaded by her seductive ways.
The Jealousy of Psyche's Sisters: The sisters did come, and Psyche invited them into the palace. Soon, they grew envious and started to ask questions about the husband. She avoided their questions and quickly shooed them away. They told each others about their awful lives and their bad husbands. They felt that they had gotten the short end of the stick and that the youngest sister was so undeserving of all that she was given. They plotted to keep what they knew hidden from their parents, and to go back to knock their sister down.
Psyche's Husband Warns Her: The sisters faked injury and went running to their parents, plotting murder. Meanwhile, the husband told her that he would give her a divine child if she did as she was told and ignored the sisters. She wasn't to speak about her husband at all. Again she was able to seduce her husband into letting her see her sisters, despite his warnings. She promised to never ask about his image ever again, but still hoped that the child she was to bear would look like him.
Fears and Doubts: The sisters did come again, and faked being nice to Psyche. Again she thought of lies to tell them about her husband, and again had them taken away by the wind. They knew she was lying this time. They came to her again with a lie that her husband was going to eat her after she gave birth, as he was a monster. She thought that her sisters would never lie to her, and so she believed them. She admitted that she had never seen his face, and they told her to kill the man. They told her that they would wait and take her back to a mortal man to marry. She was left by the sisters and was so torn, yet she prepared for the kill. So she waited until her husband fell into a deep sleep.
Psyche's Husband Revealed: She went to do the deed, but saw that the man was Cupid himself. She had to hide the blade, but couldn't help but look at him again. Then she admired his wings, and his weapons. She took out an arrow and accidentally pricked her finger. She then fell in love with Cupid even more. But he was woken up by the lamp's oil, and so he left his wife alone. He told her that he warned her, that he should have listened to his mother. Now he would leave her, and her sisters would face their own punishments for causing all of this.
Psyche's Despair: She flung herself into a river and was found by Pan, who told her to pray to Cupid, as he could tell she was lovesick. She wound up at her sister's husband's palace. Who quickly was taken away to a cliff. She and her sister both shared the same fate that Cupid brought upon them, death by the jagged rocks. Their bodies to be eaten by animals. It is unknown what happens to Psyche yet...
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