not see his form; nor did he speak, so that she could not guess
from his voice what kind of creature it was to whom the Fates
had wedded her. So Psyche lived for a long while, wandering
about her palace in the daytime, tended by her unseen guardians,
and every night her husband came to her and stayed until
daybreak. Then she began to long to hear about her father and
mother, and to see her sisters, and she begged leave of her
husband that these might come to her for a time. To this Eros
agreed, and gave her leave to give her sisters rich gifts, but
warned her that she must answer no questions they might ask
about him, and that she must not listen to any advice they might
give her to find out who he was, or else a great misfortune
would happen to her. Then Zephyrus brought the sisters of Psyche
to her, and they stayed with her for a little while, and were
very curious to know who her husband was, and what he was like.
But Psyche, mindful of the commands of Eros, put them off, first
with one story and then with another, and at last sent them
away, loaded with jewels. Now Psyche's sisters were envious of
her, because such good fortune had not happened to themselves,
to have such a grand palace, and such store of wealth, and they
plotted between themselves to make her discover her husband,
hoping to get some good for themselves out of it, and not caring
what happened to her. And it so fell out that they had their
way, for Psyche again getting tired of solitude, again begged of
her husband that her sisters might come to see her once more, to
which, with much sorrow, he consented, but warned her again that
if she spoke of him, or sought to see him, all her happiness
would vanish, and that she would have to bear a life of misery.
But it was fated that Psyche should disobey her husband; and it
fell out in this way. When her sisters came to her again they