Apuleius, Metamorphoses, 5.4.1
Abigail Smith /
- Created on 2021-11-16 19:57:54
- Modified on 2021-11-17 02:51:56
- Translated by W. Adlington (1566) ; Sarah Ruden (2011)
- Aligned by Abigail Smith
English
Latin
English
All these pleasures finished , when night aproched Psyches went to bed , and when she was layd , that the sweet sleep came upon her , she greatly feared her virginity , because shee was alone . Then came her unknowne husband and lay with her : and after that hee had made a perfect consummation of the marriage , he rose in the morning before day , and departed . Soone after came her invisible servants , and presented to her such things as were necessary for her defloration .
Finitis voluptatibus , vespera suadente , concedit Psyche cubitum , iamque provecta nocte clemens quidam sonus aures eius accedit . Tunc virginitati suae pro tanta solitudine metuens et pavet et horrescit et quovis malo plus timet quod ignorat : iamque aderat ignobilis maritus et torum inscenderat , et uxorem sibi Psychen fecerat et ante lucis exortum propere discesserat : statim voces cubiculo praestolatae novam nuptam interfectae virginitatis curant .
In time , these delights were at an end . ‘Go to bed , ’ the evening hour seemed to say , and Psyche withdrew from her dining couch . Later , in the far reaches of the night , a certain low sound reached her ears . In the vast wastes of her isolation , she feared for her virginity - but because had no idea what she might be facing , she quaked and shuddered more than she would have at anything she knew . Now her obscure bridegroom was at hand . . . and climbing up on the bed . . . and making Psyche his wife . . . and rushing away before dawn arose . Promptly , the voices at their stations in the bedroom tended the bloody corpse of the new bride’s virginity .