every one, Psyche went to Aphrodite herself, and the goddess,
who had caused great search to be made for her, now ordered her
to be beaten and tormented, and then ridiculed her sorrows, and
taunted her with the loss of Eros, and set her to work at many
tasks that seemed impossible to be done. First the goddess took
a great heap of seeds of wheat, barley, millet, poppy, lentils,
and beans, and mixed them all together, and then bade Psyche
separate them into their different kinds by nightfall. Now there
were so many of them that this was impossible; but Eros, who
pitied Psyche, though she had lost him, sent a great many ants,
who parted the seeds from each other and arranged them in their
proper heaps, so that by evening all that Aphrodite had
commanded was done. Then the goddess was very angry, and fed
Psyche on bread and water, and next day she set Psyche another
task. This was to collect a quantity of golden wool from the
sheep of the goddess, creatures so fierce and wild that no
mortal could venture near them and escape with life. Then Psyche
thought herself lost; but Pan came to her help and bade her wait
until evening, when the golden sheep would be at rest, and then
she might from the trees and shrubs collect all the wool she
needed. So Psyche fulfilled this task also. But Aphrodite was
still unsatisfied. She now demanded a crystal urn, filled with
icy waters from the fountain of Oblivion. The fountain was
placed on the summit of a great mountain; it issued from a
fissure in a lofty rock, too steep for any one to ascend, and
from thence it fell into a narrow channel, deep, winding, and
rugged, and guarded on each side by terrible dragons, which
never slept. And the rush of the waters, as they rolled along,
resembled a human voice, always crying out to the adventurous
explorer--"Beware! fly! or you perish!" Here Psyche thought her