westward into Persia and Europe. A translation of the story of
Urvasi and Pururavas is given by Mr. Max-Muller,[3] who also
tells what the story means, and this helps us to see the meaning
of the tale of Eros and Psyche, and of many other myths which
occur among all the branches of the Aryan family; among the
Teutons, the Scandinavians, and the Slavs, as well as among the
Greeks. Urvasi, then, was an immortal being, a kind of fairy, who
fell in love with Pururavas, a hero and a king; and she married
him, and lived with him, on this condition--that she should never
see him unless he was dressed in his royal robes. Now there was a
ewe, with two lambs, tied to the couch of Urvasi and Pururavas;
and the fairies--or Gandharvas, as the kinsfolk of Urvasi were
called--wished to get her back amongst them; and so they stole
one of the lambs. Then Urvasi reproached her husband, and said,
"They take away my darling, as if I lived in a land where there
is no hero and no man." The fairies stole the other lamb, and
Urvasi reproached her husband again, saying, "How can that be a
land without heroes or men where I am?" Then Pururavas hastened
to bring back the pet lamb; so eager was he that he stayed not
to clothe himself, and so sprang up naked. Then the Gandharvas
sent a flash of lightning, and Urvasi saw her husband naked as
if by daylight; and then she cried out to her kinsfolk, "I come
back," and she vanished. And Pururavas, made wretched by the
loss of his love, sought her everywhere, and once he was
permitted to see her, and when he saw her, he said he should die
if she did not come back to him. But Urvasi could not return;
but she gave him leave to come to her, on the last night of the
year, to the golden seats; and he stayed with her for that
night. And Urvasi said to him, "The Gandharvas will to-morrow
grant thee a wish; choose." He said; "Choose thou for me." She