questioned her about her husband, and persuaded her that she was
married to a monster too terrible to be looked at, and they told
her that this was the reason why he never came in the daytime,
and refused to let himself be seen at night. Then they also
persuaded her that she ought to put an end to the enchantment by
killing the monster; and for this purpose they gave her a sharp
knife, and they gave her also a lamp, so that while he was
asleep she might look at him, so as to know where to strike.
Then, being left alone, poor Psyche's mind was full of terror,
and she resolved to follow the advice of her sisters. So when
her husband was asleep, she went and fetched the lamp, and
looked at him by its light; and then she saw that, instead of a
deadly monster, it was Eros himself, the God of Love, to whom
she was married. But while she was filled with awe and delight
at this discovery, the misfortune happened which Eros had
foretold. A drop of oil from the lamp fell upon the shoulder of
the god, and he sprang up from the couch, reproached Psyche for
her fatal curiosity, and vanished from her sight; and then the
beautiful palace vanished also, and Psyche found herself lying
on the bare cold earth, weeping, deserted, and alone.

Then poor Psyche began a long and weary journey, to try to find
the husband she had lost, but she could not, for he had gone to
his mother Aphrodite, to be cured of his wound; and Aphrodite,
finding out that Eros had fallen in love with Psyche, determined
to punish her, and to prevent her from finding Eros. First
Psyche went to the god Pan, but he could not help her; then she
went to the goddess Demeter, the Earth-Mother, but she warned
her against the vengeance of Aphrodite, and sent her away. And
the great goddess Hera did the same; and at last, abandoned by